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USEFUL WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE....!. K. 

ll/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIillllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllll 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN , 

AGRICULTURE, ARTS, &c. 

or THE 

UNITED STATES. 










BY HON. HENRY L j!,Li.& WORTH, 

U. 8. COMMIStlONBR OF PATENTS. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

A TREATISE ON RAISING SWINE, 

AND THI 

BEST METHODS OF FATTENfNe:PORK. 

' ALSO, 

y 

A TREATISE ON GEOLOGY 

AS CCM^NECTED WITH AGRICULTURE. 



NEW-YORK: 
GREELEY & McELRATH, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS. 



1843. 



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TRIBUNE PUBLICATIONS. 

USEFUL BOOKS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Cr MR. FARNHAM'S TRAVELS THROUGH OREGON forms No. I. of a series 
of useful books now in course of publication at the office of the New- York Tribune. These 
publications will be uniform in style, and generally in price, and the Publishers will con- 
fine themselves to such as are intrinsically valuable, and which they may deem calculated 
to disseminate important and accurate information on subjects connected with Agriculture, 
Mechanic Arts, History, Literature, and Science — in a word, such books as are useful and 
important alike to the Farmer and Mechanic as well as to the Merchant and Professional Man. 



No. I. OF USEFUL WORKS FOR THE PEOPIE-JDST PUBIISHED. 

TRAVELS IN THE GREAT WESTERN PRAIRIES, 

THE ANAHUAC AND ROCKY MOUNTAINS, AND OREGON TERRITORY. 

By Thomas J. Farnham. 

The above work contains a full, clear, graphic and authentic account of the Far Westj 

and the last chapter embraces the report of Lieutenant Wilkes to the Secretary of the Navy, 

on the examination of Oregon Territory by the Exploring Expedition. Price 25 cts. : Five 

copies for One Dollar. 

NO. II. OF SERIES OF THE TRIBUNE'S USEFUL BOOKS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

[Cr The IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE, ARTS, &c. OF THE UNITED 
STATES, as set forth luminously and at length in the Report of Hon. W. H. ELLS- 
WORTH, Commissioner of Patents, forms No. II. of the Tribune's Series. It is one of 
the most valuable and instructive PubUc Documents ever pubHshed, and should be in the 
hands of every man in the Union. 

To the above work is also added a valuable TREATISE on RAISING SWINE, and 
the best method of fa^ttening pork, with a plan for building Styes. Also, a Treatise of 
great value, entitled GEOLOGY as connected with Agriculture. 

The price for the whole is 25 cents by the single copy — $1 for five copies. Orders, ac- 
companied by the cash, are solicited from Postmasters, Newsmen, Booksellers, and others. 



NO. III. OF THE SERIES OF USEFUL PUBLJCATIONS NOW IN PRESS. 

tnr DOCTOR LARDNER'S LECTURES.— The third edition of Doctor Lardner's 
complete Course of Lectures, delivered at Niblo's Saloon, in the City of New- York. The 
subjects embraced in the Lectures are : Electricity — The Sun — Galvanism — The Fixed 
Stars — Magnetic Needle — Latitude and Longitude — Bleaching — Tanning — Popiilar Falla- 
cies — Light — Falling Stars — Temporary Stars — Historical Sketch of Astronomy — Dew — 
Science aided by Art — Scientific Discoveries — Sound — Vibrations of the Retina — Voltajo 
Battery — Steam Engines of England and America. 

This edition of Doctor Lardner's Lectures will be introduced by a 
SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE, 
BY THOMAS THOMSON, M. D., F. R. S., h. & E., &c. &c, &c., 
Regius Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow. 

This splendid work, which is as elegantly written as it is lucidly arranged, embracea the 
following subjects : Introductory Remarks — Mathematics — Arithmetic, Geometry, Al- 
gebra ; — Of Observation and Experiment — Mechanics — ASTRONOMY — Optics — Hy- 
drostatics, &.C. — Electricity — Magnetism — Chemistry — Giving a Historical Sketch and 
General Summary of the principles of each of the foregoing branches of Science. 

Price for the whole, including Lardner's Lectures, 25 cents per single copy — PostmaBters 
ando tilers will receive five copies for $1. 



The succeeding numbers of this Series of useful Publications will be announced from 
time in the New- York Daily cmd Weekly Tribune. 



THE 



IMPROVEMENTS 



AGRICULTURE AND THE ARTS 



OF THE UNITED STATES, 



AS SET FORTH LUMINOUSLY AND AT LENGTH IN A REPORT 



TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



U 



BY HON. yf. ¥(. "^LLS WORTH, 

COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS. 



Patent Office, January, 1843. 
In compliance with the law of Congress, 
the Commissioner of Patents has the honor to sub. 
mit his annual report. 

Five hundred and seventeen patents have been 
issued during the year 1842, including thirteen 
re-issues, m\A fifteen additional improvements to 
former patents, of which classified and alphabeti- 
cal lists arcEuinexcd, (marked B and C.) 

During the same period, three himdred and fifty- 
two patents have expired, as per list marked D. 

The applications for patents during the year 
past amount to seven hundred and sixty.one, and 
the number of caveats filed was two hundred and 
ninety-one. 

The receipts of the office for 1842 amount to 
$35,790 96, from which $8,068 95 may be de- 
ducted repaid on applications withdrawn, as per 
statement E. 

The ordinary expenses of the Patent Office for 
the past year, including payments for the hbrary 
and for agricultural statistics, have been $22,154 
48, leaving a net balance of $5,264 20, to be 
credited to the patent fund, as per statement 
marked F. 

The above expenditures do not include those 
incurred within the last year, for the recovery of 
the stolen jewels. 

For the restoration of models, records, and 
drawings, under the act of March 3, 1837, $14,- 



060 02 have been expended, as per statement 
marked G. 

The whole munber of pfetents issued by the 
United States, previous to January, 1843, was 
twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety-two. — 
The continuance of the depression of the money 
market, and the almost universal prostration of 
all busmcss, operates very disadvantagcously on 
the receipts of this office, as many hundred ap- 
plications are delayed solely from the want of funds 
or difficulty of remittance. The patents granted 
for the year, however, exceed those of the year 
previous by tioenty, though there have been less 
apphcations by eighty-six. 

The Digest of Patents, continued and brought 
down to January, 1842, has been printed, and 
700 copies distributed to the respective States, 
and 200 copies deposited in the library, in com. 
pliance with the resolution of Congress directing 
the same. 

The accommodations granted during the laat 
year for the reception of tlie articles received 
through the exploring expedition, entrusted to the 
National Institute, must seriously thwart, if not 
suspend, the design of Congress in the reorgan- 
ization of the Patent Office, wliich enacts, section 
20, act of July 4, 1836, " that it shall be the duty 
of the Commissioner to cause to be classified and 
arranged, in such rooms and galleries as may b« 
provided for that purpose, in suitable cases, when 
necessary for their preservation, and in such raaa- 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



ner as shall be conducive to a beneficial and fa- 
vorable display thereof, the models, and specimens 
of composition and fabrics, and other manufac- 
tures and works of art, patented or unpatented, 
which has been or shall hereafter be deposited in 
the said office." 

While the annual receipts of the Patent Office 
above the expenditures are sufficient to carry out 
fully the benevolent object of the National Legis- 
lature, the want of room of which it is thus de- 
prived will be, for a time, an insurmountable ob- 
stacle, as all the room in the gallery could be ad- 
vantageously used either by the Patent Office or 
the National Institute. No remedy, therefore, 
remains, but an extension of the building, which 
might be done by the erection of a wing sufficiently 
large to accommodate the Patent Office on tlie 
first story. The building can also afford room 
for lectures by professors, should they be appointed 
under the Smithsonian bequest ; and may I be 
here permitted to observe, that a gratuitous course 
of lectures in the different branches of science 
would certainly do much to diffuse knowledge 
among men. I can confidently say, that the agri- 
cultural class look forv/ard with bright anticipa- 
tions to some benefit from the Smithsonian be 
quest, and to the time when the sons of agricul- 
turists, after years of toil at the plough, can at- 
tend a course of lectures at the scat of Govern- 
ment, and there leani, not only the forms of legis- 
lation, but acquire such a knowledge of chemistry 
and the arts as will enable them to analyze the 
different soils, and apply agricultural cliemistry 
to the greatest effect. Such encouragement will' 
indeed, stimulate them to excel in their professions 
while others, deemed by many more favorable; 
are indulged with a collegiate course of education. 
Little, indeed, has been done for husbandry, by the 
General Government ; and, since eighty per cent, 
of the population are more or less engaged in this 
pursuit, the claim on tliis most beneficent bequest 
will not, it is hoped, be disregarded. The Na- 
tional Agriculture Society, in connection the with 
Institute, will most cheerfvdly aid Congress in 
carrj^ng out their designs, for the great benefit of 
national industry. 

It is a matter of sincere congratulation, that the 
Patent Office has so far recovered from its great 
loss in 1836, by the conflagration of the building, 
with nil its contents. A continued correspondence 
with 11,000 patentees, and mitiring efforts on the 
part of all concerned with this bureau, has accom- 
plished much ; indeed, to appearance, the models 
are better than previous to the fire. Although 
something yet remains to be done, enough has 
been accomplished to remove the past embarrass- 
ment, and afford applicants the means of examina- 
tion as to the expediency of applying for a patent. 

The loss of the Ubrary, sustained by the fire, is 
not yet fully repaired ; and, smcethe law of 1836 
makes it a duty to examine all applications for 
patents, with reference, also, to foreign inventions, 
it is absolutely necessary that the library should 
be extended. 

It is true that the library of Congress possesses 
some books on scientific subjects, useful lor refer- 
ence in the labors of this bureau, but no permis. 
sion isgiven to take out books from that library ; 
and il such liberty were granted, it would be bad 
economy to send an examiner to the Capitol, to look 



up similar cases. If applications are to be exam- 
ined, it will promote the despatch of public busi- 
ncss, protect against spurious patents, and give 
public satisfaction, if the Patent Office library is 
well supplied with necessary books. 

Already, Inmdreds of applicants are satisfied, 
by the comparatively imperfect examinations now 
made by referring to books on hand, not to take 
out a patent ; and when, in the rejection of cases, 
reference is made to foreign patents, there is an 
impatient desire to see the description of the in- 
vention that is to cut off the hopes of so many 
years of toil and labor. I would therefore most 
earnestly recommend an appropriation of ^1,200 
from the surplus fund, to add to the Patent Office 
Ubrary. 

The annual agricultural statistics, comprising 
the tabular estimate of the crops for the past year, 
with accompanying remarks and appendix, will 
be found subjoined, (marked A.) 

The value of this dociunent to the whole coun- 
try, from year to year, it is believed, would justify 
a much larger appropriation from the Patent Of. 
fice fimd for this purpose. The diffusion of such 
infonnation may save millions to the laborious 
tiller of the soil, besides adding directly to his 
means of export many millions more. An exam- 
ination of tliis subjeat, and the expediency of 
fixing it on a more pe%nanent and advantageous 
basis, by the constitution of an agricultiu-al bureau, 
or at least an agricultural clerkship, at a moderate 
expense, to be di'awn from the patent fimd, is res- 
pectfully suggested. The additional benefit which 
might thus accrue to the population of our v.ddely 
extended country would soon be seen. 

A sufficient appropriation to allow a personal 
examination of the various parts of the coimtry 
by some one well qualified for such duty — similar 
to what has been attempted with so much success 
by some of the State Legislatures — would, it is 
beheved, realize a vast amoimt of practical good, 
especially to the South and West, by furnishing 
the data on which they might direct their pro- 
ducts to the best markets, for domestic sale or fo- 
reign export. 

Such, indeed, are the great benefits to result 
from personal observation and critical examina- 
tion, not only of the crops, but agricultural im- 
plements — such the importance of explaining the 
new improvements, and collecting and distributing 
all the acclimated seeds, which are proved to be 
so sio-nally productive or beneficial, that the Com- 
missioner of Patents has doubted whether a modi- 
fication of his duties, in connexion with tlie Patent 
Office, would not be more useful to the commu- 
nity. Dui-ing the last year, he embraced the op- 
portunity, while travelling, to examine the crops 
in ten States ; and though the examination was 
of com-se imperfect, it enabled him the better 
to digest the somewhat discordant materials 
from wliich the agricultural statistics here incor- 
porated were compiled. If millions can be saved 
to the pubhc, if the agriculturist can be encour- 
aged in his all-important pursuits, by the expendi- 
ture of a small sum from the annual surplus of the 
patent fund, what better destination could be given 
to this amount ? Would not the people heartily 
approve and earnestly second such an midertaking. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

H. L. ELLSWORTH. 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



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Improvemenls in Agriculture and the Arts. 



AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 



REJIARKS ON THE TABULAR ESTIMATE, iiC. 

The tabular view now given, presents, in a con- 
densed form, the results of the various crops diu-. 
ing the past year. To prepare it has been no easy 
task. The sources of information principally re- 
lied on have been the different agricultural socie- 
ties, addresses, an extensive correspondence, with 
personal appHcation to many throughout the 
whole country. To those who have thus contrib- 
uted to our means of knowledge, tlie public are 
imder no light obligations for the promptness and 
efficiency with which they have replied to the 
questions for information ; and this success makes 
the regret the greater that an answer could not be 
be obtained in every case, so as to incorporate yet 
further knowledge, so acquired, in tliis statistical 
report. 

The progress of each crop, however, from its 
seed time to its harvest, has been carefully noted, 
and the various causes which might affect its in- 
crease or decrease, taken into consideration. The 
aim has been, as far as possible, to exclude from 
the elements of wliicli the estimate was to be com- 
pounded every tiling which could not lay claim to 
reliable accuracy. 

Still it is evident, that m the present dcartli of 
means in our country for extensive statistical in- 
vestigation of tin; liind most neccssarj"^, an ap- 
proximation to tiie truth is the most tliat can be 
attained. This is all that has been attem})ted ; 
and it is Jioped that as close and accurate a view 
as the means at command and time for t!ie pur- 
pose would allow, is thus furnished. It will be re- 
collected that the estimate must be finally settled 
after the crops have been gathered in, the latest 
of which reach to the month of December ; so 
that the preparation of the whole nmst chiefly 
be comprised in the compass of less than two 
months. 

It is often, too, not a little difficult to reconcile 
conflicting statements and calculations, either of 
wliich, so far as it appears, are entitled to equal 
credit v/ith the others, and yet which give no clew 
as to tlie basis on which they are formed, and by 
the careful examination of which, they could be 
verified or disproved. Great vagueness likewise 
exists m the slight notices found in many of the 
agricultural journals, where something like a re- 
cord of the crops from month to month, usually 
forms a part of their columns. An effort has been 
made to sift out the truth, and so to weigli the 
evidence and compare the various results as to 
give at least a bird's-eye view of the whole. If 
any should question the correctness, or if subse- 
quent somces of information should show that we 
have been mistaken, no one, we are certain, can 
impute it cither to want of diligence in collecting, 
or to the sparing of any effort to chscriminate and 
to ascertain the truth. 

PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT. 

The progress of improvement in agriculture, 
though gradual, is yet steady. The importance ol' 
this branch of industry, is beginning to be more 
and more appreciated. The whole country is 
more or less interested in it, as it furnishes, be- 
sides what is consumed at home, at least three- 



fourths of all the exports of the United States. — 
The vast public domain of unsold lands, too, will 
be affected by this progress, and its value propor- 
tionably advanced. It may be well here to men- 
tion some of the principal sources of this improve- 
ment. 

CAUSES OF IMPROVEMENT. 

The geological surveys ordered and in progress, 
or recently completed, in many of the States, be- 
sides the other important benefits thereby confer, 
red on those States, have contributed much to ad- 
vance the science of husbandry. 

These, in connexion with the experiments of 
agricultm-al chemistry, by thus directing the at- 
tention to their analysis, are developing the natm'e 
of the soils and theu' adaptation and means of in- 
creased production, by different seeds, products, 
and methods of cultivation and manures, and so 
enable the fanner or planter to use the varieties of 
his land to the l)est advantage. 

The increasing number of agricultural periodi. 
cals and treatises, and their clieap and more ex- 
tensive circulation throughout the land, are also 
producing a happy effect. The farmers and plant- 
ers in the various sections of our country are thus 
brought acquainted with each other's operations 
and success, and also v/ith the methods of culti- 
vation and rearing of stock, &c., common in Eng- 
land and on the continent, new products and the 
result of their trial are noticed, and the knowledge 
of many useful discoveries thus extended. The 
prejudice against '• book farming," as it has been 
termed, which has so long proved a l^arrier to the 
adoption of valuable improvements thus suggest- 
ed, is gradually wearing away ; and a happy com- 
bmation of science and practical skill is thus se- 
cured, the results of which are every year becom- 
ing more and more apparent. 

Agricultural societies also exercise great influ- 
ence in furthering the progress of agricultural in- 
dustry. These are of but comparatively recent 
date, and their institutions and increase in num- 
ber and prosperity serve to mark the progress of 
improvemenl in agricidture ; and if still further 
aided by an efficient board of agriculture, like 
what exists in Great Britain, they vrould no doubt 
be yet more successful. It is only about fifty 
years since that board was there established, and 
it has proved of extensive benefit to that active 
empire. By means of these societies, great num. 
hers of the agriculturists of our country are 
brought together, to compare notes, as it were, to 
observe each other's success, and to converse on 
the topics coimected with tliis branch of industry. 
They examine the machines, implements, animals 
and products, offered for exhibition, and are in- 
duced to bestow more care and labor in the selec- 
tion of, their seeds and stock, in the preparation 
of the soil, and in their tillage and harvesting. — 
Every year new and valuable improvements are 
thus made known and introduced, by which many 
are essentially benefited. Premiums also encour- 
age to effort, and a highly salutary incentive is 
furnished, in the honor to be acquired of success- 
ful and approved farming. A similar effect, too, 
results from the bounties given by the different 
States to encourage the cultiu-c of some particu- 
lar product. These have never been offered with- 
out a new impulse being stirred, and leading to in. 



improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



creased attention to the pursuit. Some of the 
States in these respects arc far in advance of others, 
but almost all are beginning more to appreciate 
their true interest, and seeking to. extend their 
true prosperity. 

Wliile adverting to the causes of general im- 
provement in the agriculture of our country, it 
inay not also be improper to allude to the increas- 
cd habits of temperance and sobriety of the labo- 
rer, by which the condition of the farm-house and 
farm is so essentially benefited, and domestic hap- 
piness and effective strength promoted. A clear 
head and a vigorous frame, in combination, will 
ever be most successful in tillage, as in every 
branch of industry. The lengthening of life and 
the repair of health, thus secured, render many 
who have been but drones and mere consumers, 
also active and efficient producers, as well as 
healthful consumers. The amount added, too, in 
the increased skill, as well as the saving from less 
breakage of tools and machinery of labor, and 
the actual effectiveness of such laborers as have 
heretofore been drawn from the intemperate class, 
now reformed, constitute no small item of gain in 
this view of the subject. No little damage has 
been thus sustained in the " inebriate" manage- 
ment and cultivation of the land, which is now 
avoided. Were this the proper place, some most 
interesting deductions might be made as to the phy- 
sical force and efficiency thus added to the vari- 
ous branches of industry, and the bearing of the 
whole on agriculture, as a source of our national 
wealth. 

ELEMENTS OF THE ESTIMATE. 

The great and general elements which must be 
taken into consideration in forming this annual 
estimate are, (and this is also a stated or perma- 
nent cause) — 

1. The annual increase of our pojmlation nat- 
urally, and also from emigration, and hence, con- 
sequently, of our laboring force. While it has 
usually been computed that the proportion of the 
whole population engaged in agriculture, or de- 
pending on it for a livelihood, is equal to at least 
83 per cent., the last census shows that over 
2,700,000, or more than one-fifth of the whole, 
constitute the effective force of male laborers. — 
This is nearly three times more than are employ- 
ed in manufactm-es and trade, commerce and na- 
vigation, taken together. In Great Britain, the 
proportion is also large — 9,000,000 are said to be 
engaged in agriculture, to 4,000,000 employed in 
the manufactures. A per centage, therefore, equal 
to one-fifth of the annual per centage of the in- 
crease of our population must be allowed on most, 
if not all, of the crops, in forming the agricultural 
statistics, as one of the usual natural elements of 
which the estimate is to be compounded. 

2. The quantity of nciv land now first render- 
ed productive. This appUes with much force to 
several of the later States. The attention of the 
settler is at first turned to the clearing up, fencing, 
and putting in order his'groundg ; and thus, three 
or four years may often elapse before his land is 
made to reward his toil in large and full crops. — 
Such a cause has been assigned, the past year, for 
the greatly increased production of the wheat crop 
in Michigan. The same cause will probably 
prove, to a limited extent, a stated one for some 



years to come. Similar to this, too, is the resto- 
ration of lands either wholly or partially worn out 
from excessive cultivation, by enriclijng them with 
suitable manures. Considerable attention, and 
with good success, has been direct^ to this ob. 
ject, for the last two or three years, in the older 
States. Thus, many acres of land, in Virginia, 
have been recovered by marling. 

The opening, too, of new means of communi- 
cation, (railroads, canals, &c.,) bringing the mar- 
ket nearer, has induced large appropriations of land 
to particular crops ; nor has the expectation of the 
revival of the manufactures and business general- 
ly, by means of the encouragement of a home 
pohcy, been without very marked effect. 

3. Yet another element of calculation deserv- 
ing notice is what may be called, perhaps, acci- 
dental or occasional — such as the failure of some 
particular crop the previous year, and the endea- 
vor to supply the deficiency by planting more 
seed and increased attention the next year. So 
the failure of an earlier crop, if known in time, 
may lead to the attempt to produce the larger 
growth of a succeeding one. It sometimes also 
happens that, owing to some cause affecting the 
growth the previous year, the seed within reach 
is not so productive as usual. The drain likewise 
on the stock that may be on hand, by a lively 
market, may operate in a similar manner. Some 
of these causes just mentioned have not, it is 
true, operated very extensively the past year, as 
the crop of the previous year was a good one, 
and there has been no greatly increased demand 
in the market for the different products ; yet, in 
forming our estimate, it seems no more than pro- 
per to keep them ever in view. The relative pro- 
portion of the various kinds of products used has 
considerable influence in determining their amount 
and home consumption, as more is required of 
some products to furnish the same nutriment than 
of others. Of two articles, either of which can 
be used to advantage at home, the producer will 
usually dispose of that which will command tlie 
highest price in the market, though this may, 
perhaps, force him to look for his own supply for 
home consumption to the inferior articles. 

The diversion of laborers from or to other kinds 
of industry, in consequence of the suspension or 
revival of the same, also deserves attention. 
Changes of this description often have a very 
perceivable effect in regard to some particular re- 
sults, as well as the general aggregate of produc- 
tion. 

4. The operation of striking peculiarities of the 
season, the increase or decrease of the insect 
tribes that are hostile to various crops, may very 
properl}' be ranked under this class of accidental 
causes- Oiu" country, indeed, is so extensive, 
and ranging through so many different tempera, 
tures, that this variation of the growing sea.son 
must be expected. Yet, while this necessity ex- 
ists on the one hand, we seldom find, on the 
other, that the cold, or drought, or rainy weather, 
or the ravages of insects, so hurtful to different 
products, is miiversal. Some portion, at least, 
is more favored than another, and thus the sinii- 
lar crop escapes the injury wliieh lessens the 
amount of production elsewhere ; and hence wo 
seem most effectually secured against any of those 
alarming failures of entire crops wliich have 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



caused so great distress in England and other 
countries, as well as are ready to take advantage 
of any favorable increase of our trade in these 
products to foreign parts. 

5. There is yet another element to be regarded 
in forming our estimate — that which is found in 
the superior productiveness of the crops, arising 
from the influence of the weather, improved 
seeds, implements of husbandry, tillage, and va- 
rious unmentioned causes, combined. Were the 
improvements on seed simply to be estimated at 
10 per cent, only on the crops, it is said on high 
authority, that this would amount in value to 
$20,000,000, or more. A season more than 
usually favorable at the time, or just after plant- 
ing, while the crop is in progress, or at the period 
of harvesting or gathering, will often add vastly 
to the amount of the productions. The improved 
culture, selection of seeds, and early attention to 
the rotation of crops, exhaustion, and manures, 
will, no doubt, preserve the new States from the 
results which have been so fatal to the older ones, 
in impairing their lands, and thus losing their 
adaptedness to some particular crop. 

All of these elements have been kept in view in 
the preparation of these statistics, and their com- 
pounded influence, as far as it might be estimated 
has been the rule of judgment, in connexion with 
the actual statements of the crops, m the various 
parts of the comitry. It cannot be expected that 
their appUcation should be brought out in detail, 
with reference to every product in the table, 
though some such reference will be often found in 
the review of the crops, as they will hereafter be 
mentioned singly. An error sometimes occurs in 
estimating the product of a particular crop, de- 
rived from the amount brought early into market, 
occasioned by some unusual activity in pressing 
it forward with the surplus stock of the year pre- 
vious remaining on hand, as commandmg a bet- 
ter sale, and enabUng the producers to realize 
comparatively a better profit. It is unsafe to rely 
at all times on such data, though they should be 
suitably regarded. For want of reflection on this 
cause, persons may often form a very incorrect 
esthnate ; and such seems to have been the case, 
in some degree, during the past year. Interested 
men may, likewise, sometimes so contribute to 
influence the market price, or the demand, that 
unfoimded expectations may be excited, wliich, 
however, are nothing more than temporary, and 
secin-e no lasting profit. False intelligence is 
given by some, either with the corrupt purpose of 
gain, or from sheer ignorance of the facts of the 
case — and this is caught up and circulated from 
one part of the Union to the other. Hence the 
necessity of closely discriminating the actual, or 
the probable, from the merely possible results of 
the numerous influences affecting the great staple 
products of our country. 

THE SE.^SON. 

The season, taken as a whole, lias been most 
propitious. Suitable alternations of warm and 
cold, of wet and dry, have, for the most part, 
rendered the weather genial in its influence on the 
vegetable kingdom. Yet, in a country like ours, 
of such vast extent, reaching through such va- 
rieties of clime, it cannot be supposed that all 
*§ rts are equally favored at every season. Por- 



tions of the country have suffered during the past 
year. In the earlier period of the seed time and 
germination, frosts and cold, in some of the 
States, affected the grain, and prevented its form- 
ing so full as would have been the case had the 
weather been more favorable. The long-continued 
heavy rains in the months of July and August 
also did great damage to the crops in Maryland, 
Virginia, and North Carolina ; and tobacco, 
wheat, maize, &,c., were much injured in con- 
sequence. To some extent, too, the cotton crops 
suffered from the same cause in parts of Missis- 
sippi and South Carolina ; yet m no one instance 
is there what can be termed the entire failure of 
the product. Less injury, perhaps, than usual 
has been experienced from blight and the ravages 
of insects ; and the granaries and storehouses 
throughout the country, almost literally groaning 
beneath the burden of our harvests, can testify 
how truly we are lapped in plenty. 

■ REVIEW OF THE CROPS. 

A more particular review of the different crops, 
corresponding to that of the last year's report, 
will furnish a summary of such information as 
could be gathered, as ^to the state of agriculture 
in our country. It is confined to certain products, 
as these were the ones specified in the late census, 
on which the estimates were originally based. 
The same remarks which are made with respect 
to one product may sometimes apply with equal 
force to another, bearing the same general charac- 
teristics ; especially is this true as regards the va. 
rious species of grain, and reference may also be 
made to the agricultural statistics of last year's 
report, for some facts relating to particular crops, 
which are now deserving of notice. 



The crop of wheat was a large one. More 
than a third of this product, as will be seen, is 
raised in the Western States. Of course, tiie 
causes which have occasioned a decrease in some 
portions of the Atlantic States have but slightly 
affected the whole aggregate. In the Western 
States, more wheat was sown than in any year 
before. The probable reason of this was, that it 
commands a better price, one nearer a recompense 
of labor, or more immediately, than any other 
product of the soil ; and that the Canada market 
offered greater inducement for exportation than 
heretofore. 

The reports respecting this crop are quite va- 
rious. In the New England States it has been 
better than it was the year previous, though but 
little comparatively is raised in this section of the 
country. It bears, however, a very good propor- 
tion to the amount of population. In New Hamp- 
shire, the grain on the wheat crop has been esti- 
mated by a good judge on these subjects as high 
as 25 per cent. 

New- York is one of tlie greatest of the wheat- 
growing States near the Atlantic coast. In the 
eastern river counties, in the northern section, and 
in the Mohawk valley, tlie crop is pronounced to 
be " good," " better than the year before." In 
the valley of the Mohawk, heretofore the weevil 
has proved a destructive enemy ; the past yesr, 
however, the cause has been less injurious. In 
the central, southern, and western sections of this 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



State, the wheat crop was comparatively Hghter 
than usual. In the western region, which is the 
great wheat-growing section, this was not so 
much owing to winter lulling and insects, al- 
though these last appeared ; but the causes of the 
failure assigned are the want of its stooling out 
properly, and shortness of head, on account of the 
unusual cold and wet of the months of May and 
June, while it was in the incipient formation of 
the germ. When this is the case, no after cul- 
ture or change of season, however favorable, can 
remedy the injury. It was indeed supposed, and 
so published, on information derived from those 
who formed their judgement merely by a cursory 
examination while passing the fields, that the crop 
would be a very large one, the m.ost abundant 
ever known ; but, when it came to the harvesting, 
the above-mentioned causes were found to have 
greatly affected it, so that the deficiency has been 
estimated, on good authority, equal to from 20 to 
25 per cent. 

In New-Jersey, in quahty it is thought to have 
been as good as in the previous year, but the 
quantity is pot so great. The vast quantities 
raised in tlie Western States have a tendency, of 
course, to lessen the amount sown in the Atlantic 
ones — as it is impossible for these to enter into 
competition, at the expense of harder tillage and 
manuring of theii- land, with the rich and exten- 
sive fields beyond the Ohio river. 

Pennsylvania is a large wheat-growing State, 
and the information respecting the crop here is 
varied. The fly, rust, smut, and wet weather, 
are assigned as causes of a decrease probably 
equal to 20 per cent, of the whole crop. Near 
Philadelphia, in the counties of Chester, Dela- 
ware, and Lancaster, the season was favorable to 
this product, and less so to the propagation of the 
fly. It is possible, too, that the introduction and 
acclimation of the Mediterranean wheat in that 
region has had some influence in baffling those 
great enemies, the rust and fly. The objections 
formerly made there by the millers are now relin- 
quished, and it is found to answer their purposes 
as well as any other kind of wheat. Magnesia 
liming has proved very valuable in thio section, 
and much poor land has been greatly improved, 
and hence a surplus raised. In a part of the re- 
gion bordering on the Susquehanna river, the rust 
and smut have very seriously affected the crop, so 
that it was thought to have been not more than 
two-thirds of an average one. In the western 
section, especially the southwestern region, a mod. 
erate winter is assigned as the cause of increase 
to this crop of perhaps one third, though the w^et 
weather during a part of the season, also to some 
degree affected it unfavorably. 

In Maryland, in the eastern and central coun- 
ties, the crop was much afiiected by the blight and 
the rains which took place during the harvesting. 
In its first growth it appeared beautiful, but 
proved to be a great failure : the fly, too, was de- 
structive in some portions. In the upper coun- 
ties, however, there appears to have been more 
than the usual average. 

Virginia, wliich ranks as the third of the great 
wheat-growing States, called the Atlantic States, 
has suffered much as regards this crop durmg the 
past year. There is much complaint of the rust. 
It has been thought that the crop east of the 



great mountain ridge, is at least one-third less 
than the usual one. The long-continued and 
heavy rains in August, destroyed a large portion 
of the crops on James river, as also in other parts 
of eastern Virginia, as was the case too in North 
Carolina contiguous. The rust likewise mate- 
lially diminished it in portions of the western re- 
gion of this State. 

The wheat crop of Georgia is described by 
some as having been " hardly a fair crop," " in- 
ferior to that of the precedhig year," wlule others 
term it, on the whole, " a fair," " an average" 
one. 

From the information obtained, a judgement is 
formed of the wheat crop in Alabama, that it was 
more than the usual average one. 

In Mississippi there has been quite an increase, 
and it is judged that there is more now raised 
than is wanted for their own consumption. 

The crops in Tennessee and Kentucky were, 
according to the different accounts, " good," " an 
advance on the former years," " 20 or 25 per cent, 
better." 

Oliio is the greatest producer of all the wheat- 
growing States. A much larger quantity than 
usual was sown in many parts of the State, and 
the yield has been most abundant. In some 
parts, the increase is estimated even as high 
as " 50 per cent.," in others at " not less 
than 30," " 25," or " 20" per cent. In the 
Scioto valley, not so much was produced as was 
expected, as the filling out became checked by 
the warm rains, not long before it was harvested. 
A much larger quantity, however, was sown, and 
there was more raised than ever before. The late 
sowed, too, in particidar regions of that great 
State, suffered partially from the rust, and the fly 
also affected unfavorably portions of the crop. — 
This insect enemy is said to be increasing in Oliio, 
and threatening that beautiful wheat-growing re- 
gion, and serious apprehensions are expressed re- 
specting its future ravages, unless some means be 
found to check its progress. The subject is one 
that deserves attention. A suitable reward of- 
fered might possibly lead to the discovery of some 
means for destroying an enemy which has al- 
ready proved of such injury to the wheat fields of 
other States. The Governor of Ohio, in his late 
message, estimates the wheat crop of that State, 
for 1842, at 24,000,000 of bushels. This nearly 
corresponds with the one in the table formed in, 
dependcntly, from various sources of information, 
and based on the consideration of the elements 
heretofore described. He supposes that this crop, 
after deducting sufficient for the home consump- 
tion, AVill allow at least 14,000,000 of bushels for 
exportation. 

In Indiana and Illinois, both the cut and army 
worms made their appearance, and the crop was 
somewhat injured by them, but the aggregate of 
the crop was large. Here, as in Ohio and some 
of the other States, an increased quantity of land 
was devoted to this crop, and the yield was much 
more thari an average one. Indeed, the increase 
has by some been rated as high as 50 per cent. — ■ 
Some idea of the increase of the trade in wheat 
here may be formed from the fact that from Chi- 
cago there was shipped to Buffalo, in 1840, only 
20,000 bushels; while in 1841, in the same period, 
not lees than 200,000 bushels of wheat were 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



shipped. The quantity during the same period 
last year was doubtless much larger. For the year 
1843, it is said that in the fall of 1842 one-half 
more seed has been put into the ground than any 
previous season in Illinois ; so that, if the comuig 
season sliould prove favorable, a still greater crop 
may be expected. 

In Missouri, also, the wheat crop was slightly 
affected by the array and the cut worms ; but it 
proved to be an unusually large one, not less, ac- 
cording to some estimates, than 25 per cent, bet- 
ter. From Arkansas, too, the accounts are 
equally favorable ; and the growth of the last year 
has been pronounced by some to have been at least 
double. 

In Michigan, likewise, which is destined to be 
one of the greatest wheat-growing States, there 
has been an unusual advance on the preceding 
years. The quantity which has just been brought 
under successful cultivation was large. The sud- 
den rise of price about the time of putting in the 
seed, and the favorable season, are also causes to 
which the great increase may be attributed. It is 
thought that there has been at least 50 per cent, 
more sown, and the yield from 25 to 50 per cent, 
larger. The surplus is great, and the nearness to 
the Canadas will no doubt enable many of the en- 
terprising farmers of Michigan to derive a hand- 
some profit from their labor. In the southwestern 
section of the State, portions of the crop were in- 
jured by threshing it out in wet or damp weather. 
The fertile sections of the Territories of Iowa and 
Wisconsin, also, by the increased production of 
last year, promise much hereafter. 

The wheat lands in the West are so rich in 
proper qualities that probably for years no injm"i- 
ous effects of a constant succession of this crop 
need be apprehended ; but in western New- York, 
and perhaps in some of the earlier settled sections 
of Ohio, there is some danger, cmd the attention of 
the people has been called to the subject. Liebig, 
the distinguished author, speaking of Virginia, 
says : " Harvests of wheat and tobacco were ob- 
tamed for a century from one and the same field, 
without the aid of manure ; but now, whole dis- 
tricts are converted into pasture land, which, 
without manure, produces neither wheat nor to- 
bacco. From every acre of this land there were 
removed, in the space of one hundred years, 
twelve hundred pounds of alkalies, in leaves, grain, 
and straw. It became imfruitful, therefore, be- 
cause it was deprived of every particle of alkali 
which had been reduced to a soluble state, and be- 
cause that which was rendered soluble again in 
the space of one year was not sufficient to satisfy 
the d-;mands of the plants. It is the greatest pos- 
sible mistake to suppose that the temporary di- 
minution of the fertility in a soil is owing to the 
loss of the humus. It is a mere consequence of 
the exhaustion of the alkalies." Tliis is high 
authority, though it has been questioned by some 
writers in the agricultural papers. It is important, 
therefore, that the wheat lands should be kept up 
by the use of manures ; they will supply those 
qualities of the soil which are thus exhausted. — 
For this purpose, a rotation of crops also is recom- 
mended, as it has been found (and this seems to 
be the true secret of the benefit of the rotation of 
crops) that, after wheat has been harvested from 
a field, some other plant will restore the alkali bo 



abstracted, and thus bring back the soil to its pris. 
tine fertility. 

Some products do not so far effect the soil but 
that by manure they may be kept up on the same 
field for a long time. Some also improve the soil ; 
others only impoverish it ; while by others, still, 
it is supposed to be entirely exhausted. To this 
latter class, among othei-s, belongs wheat. Salt- 
petre and nitrate of potash are mentioned in the 
late works of Professor Johnstone on agricultural 
chemistry as most valuable manures for wheat ; 
and he proposes various modes to ascertain which 
of these two is the better adapted to the purpose. 
With regard to wheat, also, it may be observed, 
on the authority of the celebrated Sprengel, pro- 
fessor of agriculture in Brunswick, that the best 
grain for bread is not the best grain for seed ; that 
we may increase the nutritious quality by the 
manure, but for seed, this highly nutritious wheat 
is imsuitable. " Seed corn," {i. e. wheat,) he says, 
" must contain the different ingredients in due pro- 
portions ; if any one of them be deficient, or in 
excess, the plant wdl be proportionably imperfect. 
This was the result of careful analysis of a great 
variety of grain grown on an equal variety of soil. 
Some soils always produce good seed grain, while 
others are found wliich seldom do it. The first 
are never rich in hmnus or nitrogen, but well sup- 
plied with lime, magnesia, potash, salt, phosphates 
and sulphates. Corn or wheat manured with 
sheep dung contams too much gluten for seed 
grain, wliicli, in germination, re-acts so powerfully 
on the starch as to overpress the conversion into 
sugar, (the chief nourishment of the germ,) and 
produce vinegar. The best seed wheat must con- 
tain much starch, and little gluten — thus the 
starch is gradually converted into sugar. Hence 
seed grain shoidd not be raised on very rich and 
higlily manured soil, for this would derange the 
natural proportions of gluten and starch, while the 
grain would be the better for bread. This may be 
the secret of grain and potatoes deteriorating in 
highly cultivated districts." 

The cause of the rust in wheat and other grain 
is exciting increased attention ; and the doctrine 
which seems to be now gaining advocates is, that 
it is owing to an excess of nourishment. 

Respecting the Hessian fly, Mr. W. H. Hill, in 
the Nashville Agriculturist, says, that for fifteen 
years his wheat did not feel the effects of it, while 
others did so in his vicinity. He sunned his wheat 
two days before planting, and, besides, chose large 
full grains, by passing it through a sieve. An in- 
teresting letter relating to the Mediterranean 
wheat, and showing that it was unaffected by the 
fly, may be found in Appendix, No. 1. 

The entire aggregate of the wheat crop of the 
United States was 102,317,540 bushels, being an 
increase of 10 per cent., or 10,674,683 bushels, 
on last year. The price of wheat has been affected 
by the quantity raised, and various other causes. 
Much less has been used for distillation. In the 
single State of New- York, there has probably 
been a decrease from tliis cause of 3,000,000 
bushels, as there has been a failing of the manu- 
facture of ardent spirits of 10,000,000 gallons. 
The introduction of threshing machines deserves 
mention in this connexion. In many places these 
are driving out of use the flad. Persons travel 
about with them, and thresh out the grain for 



10 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



from 3 to 5 cents per bushel, and they will thus 
thresh large quantities in a single day. The 
price of horse power and threshing machines is 
now BO reduced that the farmer, cither singly or 
by combination, will find his advantage in pur- 
chasing the same — thus reducing the expense of 
their threshing to one-half the cost of hiring. 



There is reason to believe that this crop has 
made no advance the past year. The attention 
of the public has been so successfully directed to 
the discontinuance of the use of malt liquor, 
which possesses an intoxicating qualit)', that the 
encouragement offered for its cultivation is be- 
coming less from year to year ; except in New- 
York, the amount raised is not large. The infor- 
mation gained as to its yield is also less certain 
than with regard to most other crops. It forms 
so small a portion, that it is often passed over, as 
not deserving notice in the general record, which, 
in many cases, is confined to the leading products. 
It is believed, however, to have been similarly 
affected with the other grains. The aggregate 
crop of the past year is estimated at 3,871,622 
bushels. This species of grain Loudon considers 
next in importance to wheat in Great Britain. 
In Sweden and Lapland it is more cultivated than 
any other grain, on account of requiring to be so 
short a period in the soil — sometimes not longer 
tlian six weeks, and seldom more than seven and 
a half. In Spain and Sicily they have two crops 
a year on the same soil. The climate in which 
it delights is warm and dry ; and it is said there 
are instances of its being sown and ripened with- 
out having enjoyed a single shower of rain. In 
parts of Great Britain it is in considerable use as 
a material for bread, and, also, fattening black 
cattle, hogs, and poultry. As it is a tender plant, 
and more easily injured than wheat, it is also 
more expensive of cultivation. 

In a country like ours, where wheat is so abun 
dant, the inducement to raise it is comparatively 
small. 



This, as it is the hardiest of them, is a larger 
crop than all the other cereal grain, except maize 
or Indian com. It is one which, to some extent, 
is affected by the season, similarly with that of 
wheat ; though, coming into harvest later, it may 
not suffer to the same extent from the rains of 
August. The past year has been more favorable 
to oats than was the year previous. It will be 
recollected that the crop of 1841 was estimated 
as under an average one. In 1842 it is thought 
to have been above an average one. In the New- 
England States, where it ranks higher in amount 
than any other grain, it was a good crop. In 
New-York, which produces the greatest amoimt, 
it was imusually large ; a greater quantify was 
sown, and the yield per acre was estimated at 
25, 30 or even 50 per cent, better than the year 
previous. The late sowed, in some cases, were 
injured by the rains of September ; but even with 
this deduction the crop was, probably, the greatest 
ever known. In New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, and 
Maryland, it is described as having been a good 
crop. In Virginia it was, for the most part, better 
•jhan an average one ; in some sections of the 



State, 30 per cent, more ; in some others it was 
destroyed by the 40 days' rain of the summer. In 
North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, the crop was 
" good." an " increased " one, " very fine;" 20 or 
25 per cent, better than in 1841. In Tennessee, 
Louisiana, and Ohio, with some exceptions, the 
crop of oats has been estimated, by judges, at an 
advance on the year 1841. The same was the 
casc^with Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, 
Wisconsin, and Iowa. Arkansas and Louisiana 
raise but a comparatively small amount. 

The whole aggregate of this crop, the past year, 
is estimated at 150,883,617 bushels. 



Pennsylvania is the greatest producer of this 
crop ; and from various sections of the State the 
report is, that it has proved " a good one," " an 
average " one, " a full crop," " 20 per cent, bet- 
ter," "one-third in advance of thelast year's." 

In New- York, too, which ranks next in the 
amount raised, it seems to have been unusually 
large, " 20 per cent, more," in some parts of the 
State, than years past. 

In the New-England States, also, the crop 
was a good one. In Virginia it was subject to the 
same vicissitudes as the wheat crop. In Ken- 
tucky, where considerable quantities are raised, 
it was better than last year. The same was 
likewise the case with Ohio. The entire aggre- 
gate of this crop amounts to 22,762,952. 

BUCKWHEAT. 

Nearly two-thirds of this crop arc raised in the 
three States of New-York, Pennsylvania, and 
New Jersey. In New- York, the increase is 
thought to have been from 20 to 30 per cent. In 
New Jersey, though it suffered somewhat from 
the frost, yet it was, on the Avhole, a good crop. 
In Pennsylvania, it is described as having been in 
different parts " not so good as in 1841 ; " an " or- 
dinary," " a full crop," or " one-third in advance 
of former years." In South Carolinia, Georgia, 
and Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkan- 
sas, scarcely any is raised. In Ohio, it bore 
about the same per centagc as the other crops. 
The entire crop is estimated at 9,483,409 bushels. 
McCuUoch says, that about 10,000 quarters, or 
80,000 bushels, are annually imported into Great 
Britain. 

MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN. 

With slight exceptions, this favorite crop seems 
to have been a large one the past year. Nearly 
every State in the Union reports a considerable 
gain. The notices, however, are modified, now 
and then, by allusion to unfavorable seasons and 
causes injurious to its growth. 

In New England it was larger than in the pre- 
vious year. In Maine it is described as " good," 
" 15 " and even " 33 " per cent, higher. In New 
Hampshire, " fine, matured without frost," " 10 
per cent.," " 25 per cent.," and by some even as 
a " double crop," and the increase is attributed to 
the season, as respects the rain, &c. ; while in 
other portions of the State the early dry and cold 
season is said to have nearly ruined many fields, 
so that it was at least from 20 to 50 per cent, 
worse. In the other New England States, the 
report, on the whole, is favorable. 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



11 



In New- York, in the river counties and in the 
southern and northern section, for the most part 
it was good, perhaps 15 per cent, better than in 
the year previous. In the Mohawk valley the 
first crop is pronounced to have been 15 per cent, 
better, but the second one (replanting) 10 or 15 
per cent, worse. In the western section of the 
State, owing to the unusually wet and cold wea- 
ther of May and June, the crop fell off, it is 
thought, 50 per cent. 

In New Jersey, also, there seems to have been 
a perceptible decrease. 

In Pennsylvania, with few exceptions, it ap- 
pears to have been less than an average— in some 
sections one-half or one-fifth decrease — much rain 
in the planting season having injured it. In other 
parts, however, it is said to have been an increase 
of at least from 20 to .30 per cent, on former 
years. The same diversity existed in Marj'land. 
In some parts of the State the crop was an in- 
creased one, or better than in 1841. In the early 
part of the summer this crop suffered most se- 
verely on the Eastern Shore, from the army worm, 
and in the principal corn-growing counties of So- 
merset and Worcester the crop has proved an en- 
tire failure. These counties have heretofore been 
considerable exporters, furnishing more than any 
other two counties in the State, and they now 
have not enough forborne consumption. The ex- 
tent of the loss may be seen from the statement 
that where 2,000 bushels usually grow, the past 
year there was but 200 ; only 10 bushels instead 
of 800, 80 for 1,500, 50 for 600, and 150 for 
1 ,800. The cause is said to have been partly the 
" warm winter, which failed to kill the hurtful in- 
sects, but mainly the result- of heavy rains," 
which, beginning early in June, continued six 
weeks. To this succeeded the grub worm. The 
consequence has been great suffering, and made 
a large section dependent on exportation. 

In Virginia, the corn crop was better than 
usual, but suffered much by the heavy rains, by 
which in some sections it was nearly destroyed, 
and in others was kept back by the dry weather. 
But where these causes did not exist to injure it, 
the yield was above an average one, and has been 
rated by some as high as 30 per cent, increase ; 
as a whole, however, this would probably be much 
too large. 

In North Carolina, likewise, the crop was much 
lessened by the great quantity of rain. Indeed, 
on some parts of the seaboard it was almost cn- 
tirelj' destroyed. Nearly one-third of the State 
was visited by successive inundations, which in- 
flicted vast loss on the inhabitants. From ex- 
porters, they must now become buyers. The 
city of Charleston, it is said, has usually received 
not less than a million of bushels from this whole 
region. This has been a serious calamity, and 
occasioned great distress. 

In South Carolina, the crop appears to have 
been better than in the previous year. The same 
was the case in Georgia, where it is thought to have 
exceeded the crop of 1841, which was a remark- 
able one by from 10 to 20 per cent. In Alabama 
and Mississippi it was large and abundant. In 
Louisiana, 25 per cent, better. In Tennessee and 
Kentucky, which are the two greatest corn grow- 
ing States, the crop appears to have been a good 
one over all these States, It is variously described 



in different sections, as " a fair cr®p," " about as 
in 1841," "very good," "fine," "excellent," 
" 12^ or 25 percent, better than last year." 

Ohio ranks next in the amount produced, and 
the accounts are more at variance as to the in. 
crease or decrease. On the whole, it would ap- 
pear that in the northern section of the State, 
though there was much more planted, yet, owing 
to the extreme cool and wet season, the crop was 
not as productive as in the previous years. Per- 
haps it was not more there than one-half or one- 
third of the usual one. In the more southern 
parts of the State, however, it is described as 
having been " as good," " better," than in the 
year 1841. The early part of the season here, 
also, was too wet and cold to afford much pro- 
mise ; but the weather m the season of earing and 
filling out proving congenial, the crop was much 
beyond a mediiun one. 

It was also good in Indiana and Illinois, both 
of which are large producers of corn. In Mis- ' 
souri and Arkansas, the increase is variously es- 
timated at irom 25 per cent, up even to 50 per 
cent. In Micliigan, owing to the low price of 
pork, and that some of the other products com- 
manded a better price, comparatively, less was 
planted than usual. Still the crop was a fine one. 
This crop was also as good, or even better, than 
usual, it is believed, in Wisconsin and Iowa. 
The whole crop of com in the United States for 
the past year is estimated at ;441,829,246 bushels. 

If the manufacture of sugar from the corn- 
stalk succeeds, as it promises to do, it is probable 
a larger quantity of corn will be planted in future. 
Some remarks on that manufacture may be found 
under the subject of sugar, below. 

POTATOES. 

It will be recollected that, ib several sections, 
during the year 1841, this crop suffered very 
greatly, and came near a failure. This year's 
product is much larger than the former, taken as 
a whole, though in some parts there has been a 
decrease from the average. Still, even in these 
cases, it is not so remarkable as in the previous 
year. 

Maine is a large producer of this crop, and per- 
haps more were planted last year than was the 
case in the year before ; but the yield, on the 
whole, was not greater, though the quality is said 
to be much superior. In New Hampshire, it is 
variously estimated at fi-om 10 even up to 50 per 
cent, increase in different parts of the State. 
Vermont ranks very high, in proportion to her po- 
pulation, as a potato-growing State ; and the 
crop was probably equal, if not superior, to that 
of the former year. In the other New England 
States it is described as having been from " 10 to 
20 per cent, better," or, " as good as an average 
one." 

New- York stands, however, foremost of ail the 
States in iU production of potatoes. The eastern 
and southern sections seem to have yielded an in- 
creased product, and even an abundant one ; in 
the northern, it v/as an oTdinary one ; in the val- 
ley of the Mohawk, about the same as usual ; in 
the western, it was affected by the unpropitious 
weather, and fell off", it is thought by some, not 
less than 50 per cent. 

In New Jersey, the production was, by some , 



12 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



considered a fair one ; by others, to liave been 20 
per cent, better than in 1841. 

In Pennsylvania, witli sUght exceptions, it is 
described as being " better," " very large," " 30 
per cent, advance." In the southern central re- 
gion, it is said to have been " not so good, by 30 
jicr cent." 

In Maryland, in tlie upper part, large quanti- 
ties were raised, and the yield was a good one. 

In Virginia, with the exception of sweet pota- 
toes, there are but few raised east of the moun- 
tains. In the northeast part of the State it has 
been estimated as high as 30 or 33 per cent, in- 
crease. On the Ohio river, in tlic western sec- 
tion, the crop was hardly an average one. 

In South Carolina, North Carolina, and Geor- 
gia, where also the sweet potato is raised, the 
crop was an " increased one," and in some sec- 
tions even " abundant." The same remark ap- 
plies to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, likewise, it is 
said to have been " a fair one," " good," " very 
good," " many more than the year before," " 10, 
15, 25, or even 33 per cent, better than in 1841." 

The potato crop was also much better than 
usual in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. 

In Florida, this product, as well as most others, 
owing to the season, was 25 per cent, better, 
thougli on account of the war, the quantity of 
land tilled has been small. 

In Wisconsin and Iowa, like as in the case of 
most of the other crops, a very considerable addi- 
tion must be made to that of the previous year. 

The whole number of potatoes raised in the 
United States during the past year is estimated at 
136,883,386 bushels. 



Taking the States where tliis product is princi- 
pally gathered, it must be pronoimced to have been 
considerably above the average one. In several 
States, especially at the South and West, very 
little attention is paid to this crop. In New- York, 
which ranks the highest, the quantity of hay gath- 
ered was in advance of the preceding year. In 
the New England States, with perhaps the excep- 
tion of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachu- 
setts, also, there was a larger growth. The 
drought affected it somewhat, and caused it to 
fall short perhaps 10 or 20 per cent. The quality 
of the crop also was injured, even when the quan- 
tity was not lessened, as it was less sweet and 
nutritious. The same remark may also be made 
as to the growth in New Jersey, where the crop 
was increased. In Pennsylvania, which ranks 
second in the amount raised, the yield m some 
parts was abundant, and lias been estimated as 
high as 30 or even 75 per cent, better than in 
1841. Tliis, probably, is too large, but from 15 
to 20 or 25 per cent, may be nearer the truth. In 
the Susquehanna region, however, it is said to 
have fallen off greatly. In Maryland, on the 
whole, it might be termed a fair yield. 

That of Virginia, as a whole, was an average 
one, though in some parts of the State it was 
a'{30ve the usual growth. The early rains aided 
it in certain sections, as they did likewise in 
North Carolina. 

In Kentucky, in certain sections, as on the 
Cumberland river, and in the southern central 



ones, owing to the drought, the hay crop suffered. 
In other parts, as also in Tennessee, this cause 
did not exist, and it is pronounced to have been 
" excellent," " from 25 to 50 per cent, better." — 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri, 
thougli devoting comparatively little attention to 
its production, yet seem to be making some ad- 
vance in the same ; and accordingly there has 
been some increase the past year, though doubt- 
less not a very material one. Some damage was 
experienced from the invasion of the army worm, 
but not enough to lessen the crop to any great 
amount. Though reliance is still placed on the 
prairie hay, yet there is a gradual improvement 
with respect to the introduction and cultivation 
of the tame grasses. The low price of grain in 
New Orleans will no doubt lessen the demand for 
pressed hay, wliich has heretofore been a consider- 
able article of export from the States Irordering 
on the Ohio river and its branches. The whole 
number of tons of hay raised in the United 
States in 1842 is estimated to have been 14,053,- 
355 tons. 



FLAX AND HEMP. 



These products have been put together in the 
tabular estimate, as they were so in the report of 
last year, in consequence of being so found in 
the census statistics, on which the statistics of 
the report of 1841 were based. Less confidence 
can perhaps be placed on the estimates of so com- 
paratively small a crop, raised in moderate quan- 
tities, scattered over a whole State, than with re- 
spect to almost any of the other common crops. 
There has been, then, only such an attempted al- 
teration of last year's estimate as the general in- 
formation derived would seem to justify. In 
two States, however, with respect to hemp we 
can speak with more certainty — Kentucky and 
Missouri. It will be recollected that in the two 
former j'ears (viz. 1840 and 1841,) the hemp crop 
was quite deficient, and proved almost a failure. 
The past year has been much more favorable. — 
The crop of hemp is a large one, and it is vari- 
ously described, as " very fine," " the best ever 
! raised," " 25 or 50 per cent, increase on the ave- 
rage one." The attention is still directed, and it 
would seem with somewhat more success, to the 
discovery of a process of vvater-rotting hemp ; 
and it is hoped that the difficulties on this subject 
may yet be removed. It is stated that, in conse- 
quence of the promise last winter of sending out 
a Government agent to purchase water-rotted 
hemp for the navy, the farmers of Kentucky and 
Missouri, have water-rotted 700 tons or more. — 
This, at the prices paid by the Government for 
Russian hemp, is worth $200,000. Many speci- 
mens, it is further stated, have been examined, 
and tliat it has been pronounced equal to Russia 
hemp. Were a suitable reward to be offered, to 
stimulate the ingenious, it can hardly be doubted 
that, by a variety of experiments, some process 
of preparmg it for the use of the navy, as well as 
the Russia hemp, might be found out. 

An important discovery, respecting the appli- 
cation of waste hemp to the purposes of paper- 
making, has recently been announced ; and if, 
when it is sufficiently tested, it proves all that it 
promises, it will afford an additional inducement 
to the culture ol' hemp. A process is said to have 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts, 



13 



been found out, by which hemp can be made 

white as snow, and that it can be used in manu- 
facturing the finest and whitest paper ; and a be- 
Uef is entertained that hemp waste, which can 
be furnished at two cents per pound, will ere long 
be sought for by paper-makcrs, to supply the 
place of linen rags. 

Hemp is beginning to be raised somewhat 
more in the Northern and Eastern States. This 
is true especially of the northern part of the State 
of New. York. At present, however, it is confined 
to the seed crop, owing to the high price of the 
seed. It is affirmed to be a mistake to suppose 
that it must be confined to alluvial lands, as has 
been shown by the farmers of Saratoga and 
Washington counties, in the State of New- York. 
We import hemp, or hempen articles, some years, 
f 9,000,000 or 10,000,000 in value. It is worth 
from $200 and upward per ton. When planted 
in drills, at a suitable distance, as it should be, 
and properly cultivated, hemp generally produces, 
it is said, from 20 to 40 bushels of seed to the 
acre ; and instances are not rare of its yielding 
from 50 to 60. The seed is generally worth from 
three to six dollars per bushel. When sown for 
the lint, it should be sown broadcast, from two to 
three bushels of seed to the acre, depending on 
the quality of the land ; and it usually produces 
from 700 to 1,000 weight of clean hemp to the 
acre. Much valuable iirformation respecting the 
culture and importance of this crop may be found 
in the files of the Kentucky Farmer for the last 
few years. 

Flax was once an article of considerable ex- 
port, and now may be again raised profitably for 
the seed. In the year 1770, tJie quantity of seed 
exporfcd amounted to 312,000 bushels. For twen- 
ty-two years previous to 1816, the aA'erage annual 
export was about 250,000 bushels. The reason 
why less attention is paid to the cultm-e of flax 
now is, tliat it is so exhausting a crop. By a ro- 
tation of crops, however this difficulty, it is pre- 
sumed, might be in a great measure avoided. — 
The smooth rich prairies of the West afford an 
excellent opportunity for raising flax to any ex- 
tent ; and, since linseed is an article wliieh bears 
exportation so well, many thousand acres might 
be cultivated to advantage, especially as the crop 
may be either pulled by machinery, or, if seed is 
the only object, it may be cut with like facility. — 
The aggregate amomit of flax and licmp, accor- 
ding to thetabiUar estimate for 1842, was 158,569 
tons. 



This crop, except in comparatively small quan- 
tities, is confined to six or eight States. It forms, 
as it is well known, the great staple of Virginia 
and Maryland, besides being largely raised in 
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. The crop 
for 1841, it may be recollected, was generally 
considered above the average, and by some as 
even a large one. That of the year 18 12, on the 
contrary, has proved a failure. The general re- 
port is, that it is poor both in quantity and quality. 
In Maryland, however, it is said to be better in 
quality than it was the year previous. Wet and 
dry weather, at different times, lessened the aver- 
age amount. 



In Virginia, where the usual average is estima- 
ted by good authority at 50,000 hogsheads, it is 
said to be " one of the worst ever gathered," " not 
more than two-thirds of a crop," " light and of a 
bad quality ;" and the wet weather is assigned as 
the principal cause of the decrease. The plants 
were injured in the bud, by the rains. 

In middle Tennessee, also, the tobacco crop was 
" not more than two-thirds of one," while in some 
other parts of the State it is said to have " doub- 
led the usual crop," or " better in quality, though 
somewhat less in quantity." The low price of 
the previous year is, said to have induced less 
planting, and the growth was not so large. In 
the western part of the State, however, increasing 
attention is given to this product. 

There is the same diversity m tire accounts as 
respects Kentucky. In some parts of that State 
the crop was "not more than two-thirds of an 
average one," "not so good by 10 per cent." In 
others it is termed " very fair," " better than usu- 
al," " perhaps 10 per cent, better." It is said that 
there are in this State not less than 5,000,000 acres 
of land which would admit of the cultivation of 
this product, and on which it might be raised at 
the rate of 600 lbs. per acre. 

The crop of tobacco in Ohio and Indiana may 
be described in language very similar to that used 
respecting Kentucky. In Missouri, it is said to 
have been an improved one ; more was planted, 
and there was a better yield. 

Increasing attention likewise is paid to the cul- 
ture of tobacco, and with success, in Illinois and 
some of the New England States. 

The recent Information furnished in the letter of 
the Secretary of the Treasury, respecting the 
amomit of home consumption, and exports of to- 
bacco, with a great variety of other particulars, 
will enable any one to form a fair conclusion as to 
its importance and bearing on our trade with foreign 
countries. It is there stated that the whole amount 
supplied elsewhere than from the Unitad States is 
about 150,000,000 lbs.; the amount of possible 
consumption of American tobacco is put at not 
less than 1,000,000,000 lbs. ; so thai, were only one 
half of this quantity actually consumed, it would 
be four times more than our present export, and 
■increase our means more than !$20,000,000 annu- 
ally. The quality of the different kinds of tobac- 
co raised in diflTcrent parts of the United States, 
with the different kinds of manufacture and use 
to which they arc particvdarly adapted, are also 
pointed out in various discriminating remarks. — 
Nearly'one-tenth of the whole population of our 
country are said to be engaged in the cultivation 
of this product, two-thirds of whom are in the four 
States of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and 
Missouri. The whole tobacco crop for 1842 is 
estimated at 104,694,891 lbs. 

COTTON. 

This great staple, from all accounts, appears to 
have yielded a large crop. It is somewhat diffi- 
cult to reconcile the conflicting statements respect- 
ing its growth and prosperity ; but, after a careful 
comparison, and endeavor to arrive at the truth, 
the result is as above estimated. 

The crop for 1841 was considerably below an 
average one. That of 1842 is much above the 
former, and, by some, is thought to have been 



14 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



equal to that of 1839, which was an unusual one. 
Subsequent information may, perhaps disprove 
particular estimates, and some may be misled by 
the fact that a larger quantity than usual was 
brought into market at an early period. It may 
be well, however, to mention more in detail some 
of the statements which have been gathered re- 
specting its progress. Passing over the lesser 
amounts, and commencing with North Carolina, 
tiie cotton crop is said to have been 20 per cent, 
better than in 1841, and the cause assigned is, the 
favorable weather in the early part of the fall and 
the season when the frost usually takes. The 
Crop of South Carolina, also, is said, to have been 
as a whole one-third better — the warm, dry 
weatlicr proving congenial to its growth. In oth- 
er parts of the State, it is said that " much of the 
finest cotton on the low grounds was swept off by 
the overflow ; others injured by the warm and dry 
weather ; the wet weather also injuring that which 
was open, so that it could not be handled well." — 
In Georgia, it is variously estimated at from 10 
to 50 per cent, increase on the previous year. — 
" More was planted, and the cultivation 'was more 
productive ; probably the best crop ibr many 
years." It is also affirmed that, at five cents per 
jwund, this crop would be a better one than oth- 
ers. The crop in Alabama is also pronounced to 
have been " equal or 5 per cent, superior to that of 
1839," though in some sections the dry weather 
and worm were subjects of complaint ; and in 
some others, too, excessively wet weather. The 
aggregate in Mississippi is large, " better than in 
1 839, especially in the uplands ; not quite so good 
m the lowlands." In parts of the State it was 
" injured by snails or slugs," as in Panola and De 
Soto counties ; also, by tlie boring worm, in Wil- 
kinson comity; and the Southwestern Farmer, 
of September 30, 1842, published at Raymond, 
gives it as " short," and says that there was "a 
great quantity of rotten cotton." In the same 
paper, for December 23, 1842, the following opin- 
ion is expressed : "We should not take the sm^jlus 
of cotton which has arrived in New Orleans this 
year over that wliich had arrived at the same port 
on previous years as any evidence of an extraor- 
dinary crop. The present fall has been miusually 
favorable for gathermg the crop, and we beheve 
planters will have finished picking at least earhcr 
than common. Besides this, in our State much 
labor was turned to other products, and the little 
cotton raised has the more hands to pick it. An- 
other circumstance will make the earliest shipments 
the earliest part of the "crop. Cotton on the Mis. 
sissippi is generally trifling, too, this season, and 
the crop from that quarter will certainly be short. 
On the other hand, however, we learn that the 
crops of Tennessee and North Alabama are very 
fine. So that, taking all together we should 
judge that the result will show our present crop to 
be a fair one." In the vichiity of Vicksburg, 
we are told that there was " an average crop on 
the uplands," and that " on the alluvial bottoms 
of the Mississippi it has proved very abundhnt and 
of good quahty." In Louisiana, the cotton crop, 
as the Soutliwestem Farmer likewise asserts, was 
" much injured by the anny worm, rust, rot, boD 
worm, and rains ;" tliat from Opelousas to Alex- 
andria, including all the adjacent comitry on both 
sides the Boeuf, there was but littte more than 



half a crop, and the army worm was likewise 
" committing his ravages on the bayou Woekshu." 
On the other hand, it is estimated in other sec 
tions at " 20 per cent, better than usual." The 
next producer of this crop, in amount, is Tennes. 
see ; and in the southern part of the State the 
crop is said to have been unusually good even 
" 100 per cent, better" than the previous year. — 
In Middle Tennessee, some complaint is made of 
the " cotton louse." In the northern part of the 
State attention has been turned more to other pro- 
ducts. The yield in Arkansas was " greater thau 
ever before" — "double;" "the three counties of 
Sevier, Hempstead, and Lafayette, alone," it is 
supposed, would ship " 30,000 bales," being 
" 10,000 or 12,000 more than ever before in one 
season." In Florida, the crop is estimated to have 
been 25 per cent, better than the previous year. 

The entire aggregate of the cotton-crop for the 
year 1842 is 683,333,231 pounds. 

The present low price of cotton will probably 
turn off a portion of the laboring force usually 
thus employed to the cultivation of some other 
products. A planter of Alabama asserts that, by 
an improved process of culture, he has been en- 
abled to raise from 3,000 to 5,000 pounds pen- 
acre on land which, under the usual system, 
would not yield more than from 300 to 500 
pounds. In one of his letters to the Editors of 
the Albany Cultivator, he even says that he has 
actually picked the enormous quantity of 5,989 
poimds on an acre, and affirms that he is prepared 
to prove satisfactorily " that it is perfectly prac- 
ticable to produce the 2,000,000 bags — the cotton- 
crop of the United States — with one-third of the 
capital engaged, under the present system of cul- 
ture in its production." Without any dcfyiite 
information as to his process, no opinion can be 
formed of its practicability. It seems, however, 
incredible ; and no reliance should be placed on 
such prospects, until thoroughly examined and 
demonstrated conclusively by the test of rigid ex- 
periments. 

Although tlic experiment of raising cotton in 
India has partially proved a failure, on account 
of the hot weather, wuids, &,c., as in the Bengal 
district, yet in some of the trials it has fui'nished 
so great encouragement, that we have reason to 
believe it will not be abandoned. The compari- 
son of the cotton imported into England from 
India and the United States shows a steady ad- 
vance on the amount received from the former 
country. Thus, in 1841, there were received 
from the ITnitcd States 902,191 bales ; from In- 
dia 274,984 bales — being nearly equal to the en- 
tire consumption of cotton in the United States 
in 1840 and 1841, and more than one-fourth of 
the amount sent that 5^ear from this comitry ; 
being also 50,000 pounds more than in the pre- 
ceding year, in which the increase was at least 
30,000 pounds. To show how this subject is 
viewed abroad, and without pretending to say 
how far the reasoning is justified by the assumed 
facts, we may here quote an extract or two from 
the letter of an intelligent writer from Liverpool, 
to his friend in Boston. He says : 

" When in tlie cotton-growing section of the 
States, I was induced to think the India effort 
on the part of the Government would prove a 
failm'e. I based this calculation upon these data 



Improveinents in Agriculture and the Arts. 



15 



that the skill, naaclimery, fertility of soil, cheap- 
ness of conveyance, and nearness to us, would 
enable the Americans to put down any compe- 
tition. Since my return, I have conversed with 
a friend from India, who resided for a long time 
in Charleston, and was familiar with cotton- 
growing, and who is now engaged in its culti- 
vation in the East, and, from facts furnished to 
me by him, I am satisfied I was wrong. 

" The experiment in India will succeed, and 
the success will be both rapid and permanent. 
They will not only grow the cotton, but they will 
manufacture it, and supply us, besides, with large 
quantities of the raw material. What effect, you 
may ask, will this have upon the States ? The first 
will be to drive the Americans out of the South 
American markets. In India, they manufacture 
a coarse fabric (which just suits that market) 
cheaper than the Americans possibly can, and 
consequently they will have in turn to yield. 
They can do a great deal more than most people, 
but they cannot compete with pauper-labor, or the 
cheap work of India, unless helped by home du- 
ties. The second effect must be to change the 
cultivation of a large number of the States en- 
gaged in the growth of cotton. The rich alluvial 
bottoms of the Mississippi may enable the planter 
there to cultivate cotton at four or five cents, with 
profit — I suppose it will ; but in Georgia and the 
Carolinas, if I am any judge of soil, it cannot be 
done. If I remember right, the average crop in 
those States would not be more than 300 pounds 
to the acre ; and if so, cotton-growing there will 
be a losing business." 

Whether or not there is the immediate danger 
this writer predicts, of breaking up the cotton- 
trade of several States, the subject is one wliich, 
at least, demands attention. The evil may be 
more remote, but it can scarcely be doubted that 
a serious competition is threatened from a num- 
ber of sources. It appears, from information 
from high authority, that the British manufac- 
turer has already begun to supply a cheaper arti- 



cle, made of India cotton, to the South American 
market, at three cents a yard cheaper, and 
threatens to destroy effectually that market for 
our countrymen. If Texas becomes established 
on a firm footing, and at peace, so that lier rich 
soil may be brought under productive cultivation, 
she will prove a powerful rival in raising tliis 
crop, and contending for the cotton-trade. 

The attention of the French Government like, 
wise is directed to means to advance the culture 
of tliis product in French Guiana; and the in- 
crease of it also in Egypt, though not indeed 
rapid, must be taken into consideration, in esti- 
mating the probabilities of competition. Eventu- 
ally, Africa, on the Vestem coast, may furnish 
cotton at a moderate price ; though tliis cannot 
be for many yeaxs to come. The amount of the 
new crop of this year imported into Boston, coast- 
wise, from 1st of October to 31st December, ex- 
ceeds the amount of the previous year, for the 
same period, by about 9,500 bales. The fact that 
Great Britain is directing her energies to extend 
her territory, and open for herself markets, by 
commercial treaties as well as by conquest, where 
she can, and especially that she has avowed, and 
stills avows, lier determination to become inde- 
pendent of us in respect to cotton, shoiUd teach 
us that she will never relinquish her purpose with- 
out, at least, a most severe struggle. The planter, 
therefore, must expect competition with the world 
over, wherever cotton can be produced ; and that 
it can be on nearly one-third of the habitable 
globe we have liigh authority for beUeving. While 
such competition continues, no great advance can 
be hoped for in the price of our own, especially so 
long as the great powers of Europe are at peace 
with each other. One thing, however, is certain, 
tliat no country can raise better cotton than the 
United States ; and the reduction of wages and 
peculiar adaptation of soil and climate, will it is 
believed, enable the American planter to contend 
successfully in competition for many years to 
come. 



The following table, taken from the Liverpool Price Current, under date of December 9, 1842, 
is subjoined, as showing the comparative prices of cotton from different countries, and the 
sections of the globe where the staple is cultivated 



Bales. 



190 

30 

5,740 

4,440 

7,220 

70 



230 

1,180 j 

470 
60 



10 

3,400 

100 

23,150 



Sales of the week. 



Sea Island 

Stained , 

Bowed, Georgia 

Mobile 

Alabama and Tennessee 

New Orleans 

Pernambuco 6i, Parubia. 

Aravati and Ceara 

Baliia and Mario 

Maranham 

Saw, ginned, do 

Egyptian 

Peruvian 

Laguayra 

Common West India 

Carthagena 

Surat 

Madras 



Ord. to mid. 



d. 

8i 

4 

4 

4 

H 
4 

^ 

.6 
5 

H 

4| 
4i 

^ 

H 

3i 
3i 



to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 
to 



d. 

9i 

5i 

4| 

5 

5| 

6 

6| 

^ 
&\ 

5| 
5i 

5 

4| 

5 

H 

3f 

H 



Fair to good fair. 



d. 
11 
6 
5i 

^ 

7 

6f 

6i 

6 

5i 

6| 

5i 

5i 

5i 

4 

4 



d. 
to 13 



H 
5i 
5i 

5f 

6f 
6i 

51 

7 , 

sr 

to 1 5i 
to^ 5i 
to 44 

to m 

to 4 



to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to^ 

to 



Good to fair 
IL. " 



17 

7 

5§ 

5§ 

6 

7| 



to 
to 
to 
to 

to 
to 



d. 

91 
8 
6 
H 

1 



6|1 to — j 

^ to — 



.AL. to. 



.6 t to^Ji H 

6 "■" to' ?r— 

4i to " 4i 

4i to M;4i 

4i to ^S4i 



16 



Improvemente in AgrieuUure and the Arts. 



In South Carolina and Georgia, where by far 
the largest portion of this crop is produced, it is 
said to have been a good one, equal or superior to 
that of the previous year. This article was form- 
erly exported in the fonn of what is called clean 
rice, but of late years a much larger quantity is 
taken to England in a rough state, called paddy 
or cargo rice. She however, relies much for that 
article on that which is brought from India, where 
vast quantities are produced. The whole aggre- 
gate crop for the year 1842 was, by our estimate, 
94,007,484 pounds. 



It is evident that the fcehng with reference to 
this product, is settling down on a more assured 
basis. While some, remembering only the days 
of the morus multicaulis speculation, smile and 
turn with increduhty from its very mention, others 
have learned to discriminate between the solid and 
the imaginary, and are realizing, if not the golden 
dreams of past years, at least a fair profit, wliich 
not even the ridicule that is not always spared 
will easily tempt them, by abandonment of their 
object, to forego. The crop is increasing, not in- 
deed with great rapidity, but with a steadiness, 
and among a class of persons who have turned 
their attention to it, that promises to render it one 
of permanent interest. The inflation of specula- 
tion has passed away. Sober practical views arc 
adopted, and the calculations of those best inform- 
ed on the subject are sufficiently cheering to war- 
rant eventually, as they should now satisfy, the 
feelings of the most sanguine. In twelve of the 
States a bounty is given ; and comparison of this, 
from year to year, is said to leave no doubt that 
the product doubles, one year with another. It 
will be found that in every State the silk culture 
has increased. 

In New England, the attention is turning yet 
more towards it, and much practical skill in man- 
agement of the worm and modes of manufacture 
is continually acquired. Large crops of cocoons 
have been raised in the States of Ohio, Indiana, 
Kentucky and Tennessee. In Pennsylvania, in one 
small district, not less than 3,500 pounds of 
cocoons are said to have been raised. The manu- 
facture of the silk, too, at the west and elsewhere, 
keeps pace with its production. There will be, it 
is said, several thousand yards woven in Ohio, 
this season, (1842,) and several hundred in Indi- 
ana. Besides the larger establishments, there are 
also a large number of family macliines, making 
sewings and organzine, wliich last is the most pro- 
fitable article, as it is worth from $5. to $10 per 
pound in the gmn. Sound practical farmers are 
going into the business of silk-growing, and this 
will tend to give it still more permanence. It is 
beheved that not less than 2,000 bushels of 
cocoons have been produced the past season in 
middle and west Tennessee. At one establish- 
ment in Ohio, fom- dollars per bushel is paid for 
cocoons, and the manufacture of silk goods is said 
to be at the rate of one thousand dollars per month, 
and at a profit of 10 per cent, over all the cost. — 
One person is the proprietor of three large cocoon- 
eries, and expected to feed two millions of worms, 
which he calculated would yield him upwards of 



six thousand cocoons, worth at the then prices, in 
October last, two thousand dollars, but which, by 
his own manufacture of the same, would be worth 
much more to himself. A convention of silk- 
growers was held at Northampton, Massachsetts, 
in September, 1842, at which much valuable in- 
formation was communicated, by delegates and 
letters from various parts of the Union, as to the 
progress, method, &-c, of culture of the plant and 
feeding the worm. This has been imbodied and 
published in a small pamphlet, of which we have 
freely availed ourselves. The same causes which 
had a transient influence on the culture of silk, 
have proved equally unfavorable to other products ; 
the fi-osts and the unusual weather of August and 
September injured not less the crops of corn, the 
vines, and the grain and fruit, than the worm. — 
The permanent causes of soil and climate, in 
general, however, are thought to be as favor- 
able to the production of silk as to that of any 
other product. It can be cultivated in all the 
States, and there is, therefore, nothing to forbid its 
yet being cultivated in all parts of the Union. The 
mulberry tree is indigenous with us as well as in 
China, and tins seems to indicate that Providence 
has designed this country to be more or less en- 
gaged in this pursuit. The business, too, is one 
in which the aged and the feeble can be employed, 
and the children of many a family may thus be 
trained to useful industry, as well as kept from 
idleness and poverty, if not also from vice, crime, 
the prison, and a shameful death. One who has 
paid much attention to the subject, mentions that 
he is confident the business is a profitable one, and 
that it will sooner or later become one of the sta- 
pie interests. The South appears to afford pecu- 
liar facilities for conducting this culture, on ac- 
count of the climate ; and although it is now for 
the most part abandoned, yet there it oflfers strong 
inducements to that section, as an object of atten- 
tion, which may come in to take the place of cot- 
ton when the low price of that product renders it 
unprofitable of cultivation. The decline of the 
business in that region is not to be attributed to 
any inherent difficulties, or to the discovery that 
the business is impracticable or unprofitable, but 
to the disappointment of high-raised expectations, 
excited during the mania of miilticaulis specula- 
tion. 

The American raw silk, it is perfectly estab- 
lished, is in quality superior to the foreign article. 

A person for many years, as he declares, en- 
gaged in the weaving of silk in different estab- 
hshments in London, having had (as he says) for 
15 years from 250 to 300 lbs. of silk, of every 
grade and name, passing through his hands week- 
ly, expresses the following opinion as to the silk, 
&c, of our country : 

" I am qualified to affirm, from various experi- 
ments I have tried, that the silk is superior to any 
I have seen, from Italy, Cliina, France, Pied- 
mont, or Valencia, where the worms are fed upon 
multicaulis, or Italian. Its brilliancy, strength, 
and scent, are superior. I am aware that an ex- 
posure to the sahne air, in the passage across the 
ocean, may be the cause of the loss of fragrance 
to imported silk ; but the brilliancy is peculiar to 
American silk, if reeled in a proper manner, with 
cleanliness. 

I am confident that the mammoth sulphur 



Invprovemenls in Agriculture and the Arts. 



17 



worm is the pure Fossam brown. To try this, I 
had about 3 lbs. of silk reeled, and enclosed it in 
an air-tight box for three weeks. When I took it 
out, it had the fragrance of the Fossam brown 
stronger than any that I ever smelt in England, 
which convinced me that the mammoth sulphur is 
the identical silk which is always from 5 to 8 
shillings per pound higher than ordinary silk. — 
The mammoth wliite and the pea-nut wliite is a 
Novi, and superior to any I have seen in England. 
The yellow or orange I cannot, satisfactorily to 
my own mind, yet define, but am trying experi- 
ments in order to ascertain. I am strongly per- 
suaded it is a Bergam. Should this be the case, 
it will prove a great acquisition to manufacturers 
of silk velvet. Some have supposed the pea-nut 
white is the Piedmont, but they are [mistaken. — 
The Piedmont cocoon is hly white, very diminu- 
tive, with a sharp point." 

Several facts may here be mentioned, which 
show that the difficulties which have been vari- 
ously experienced in this pursuit may be obviated 
and removed. 

A method has been suggested, wliicli fm'ther 
operations will prove whether or not it may be 
rched on as a successful one, in relation to the 
killing of the chrysahs by means of the air pump. 
If it succeeds, it will be a most valuable discove- 
ry, as it will preserve the fibre of the cocoon from 
the injury to which it is exposed by tiie usual pro- 
cesses. At one large establishment the same ob- 
ject has ben effected by means of camphor ; and 
it is said, that when the camphor is properly ap- 
plied it effectually accomplishes the object, with- 
out inflicting the slightest injury on the silk fibre, 
and at the same time leaves the cocoon in the 
same state for reeling that it was before the chry- 
salis was killed. The air pump, however, should 
it succeed, will be even better than camphor. 

Another experiment relates to the retarding the 
hatching of eggs. This has been tried with suc- 
cess, and the time delayed to as late a period as 
was desired. It has also lately been discovered 
that the leaves of the mulberry can be used to 
advantage for the purpose of manufacturing a 
good paper; and thus the silk grower may profitably 
use his after growth of leaves. The question has 
been one of no httle interest among silk growers, 
how to cultivate the tree to the greatest advantage, 
so as to escape the dangers of the more cold 
chmates. One person, who has devoted much at- 
tention to this subject, gives, as the result of his 
experiments, his Opinion in favor of setting out the 
trees on dry warm land, in a state of middUng fer. 
tility, 4 feet by 2 feet, one root in a place ; and 
says that, thus managed, they are fully safe from 
the dangers of winter, any where between Canada 
and the Gulf of Mexico. It is important that they 
be lieaded down in the spring, as they do not thus 
Ibrm roots. By laying the trees, and leaving 
them to stand as they grow, many thousand trees 
are lost. He also affirms that^ after repeated trials 
and much reflection and observation, he has found 
the Chinese method of feedmg in the open places, 
instead of enclosed ones with an artificial tempera- 
ture, the best one ; and that the first third of the 
season is worth more than the two last thirds for 
feeding. It may not be improper to quote here 
the reasons assigned in the convention for antici- 
pating the regular extension of the silk busiiaess. 



" The regular extension of the silk business is 
now to be expected and anticipated. 1. It has 
outUved the disastrous revulsion of 1839. 2. All 
our agricultural journals are now friendly, and 
most of them are zealously engaged in promoting 
it. 3: The political press is every where ready to 
pubUsh any candid statements on the subject. 4. 
Unprincipled speculators in trees have all left the 
field, and the whole silk business has fallen into 
new and better hands. They did tlie cause im- 
mense mischief. By their operations in 1839, 
and especially in the wanton destruction of their 
trees in 1840, they practically proclaimed that 
mulberry trees have no intrinsic value. It has 
taken the regular silk growers two or three years to 
undo the mischief. Yet we have, in a very desirable 
and encouraging degree, done it. Trees are now 
appreciated, and some sales made at small prices. 
From this time the silk business cannot be extend, 
ed at all, without creating a corresponding demand 
for trees. 5. The new tariff, by placing this 
business on a level with other great interests of 
the country, gives it a passport to the confidence 
of business men. 6. Our manufacturers, in some 
cases, are now shaping their business in reference 
to taking up silk. Others will do the same, as the 
times shall seem to justify. This aids the growing 
of silk. 7. The amount of silk made in years 
past has been rapidly increasing — each year just 
about doubling upon the preceding year. In all 
the States where legislative bounties are given, 
we have the means of showing this increase witli 
great precision. The State Treasurer in Boston 
gave the following statement, how this matter 
stands in Massachusetts : 

1836 $71 3711840 1,233 59 

1837 198 00|l841 2,111 42 

1838 350 52|1842,toOct.l..3,351 91 

1839 434 621 

In view of these results, secured amid all the 
multiplied discouragements that we have had to 
contend with, what may be hoped for, now that 
we have surmounted these discouragements, and 
gained public confidence. 8. Another considera- 
tion, calculated to urge the business forward, is 
found in the fact that all our present agricultural 
staples are now extremely depressed, and are 
likely to remain so. The market is completely 
glutted. Our farmers must take up something 
new, or their sufferings will be prolonged indefi- 
nitely. In this crisis, silk comes to their aid. 
In the production of this article they cannot glut 
the market for one whole generation, most as- 
suredly." 

Without desiring to excite undue expectations, 
it is a question which deserves serious considera- 
tion — Wliether much more may not be realized 
from the prosecution of this business than has 
hitherto been ? The little town of Mansfield, in 
Connecticut, by a persevering devotion to it, un- 
discouraged by the ill success of others, has been 
enabled to derive therefrom a good profit ; and it 
appears from the last census that, with a popu- 
lation of 2,276, not less than $20,000 is annually 
received from this business. 

The bounty paid in Ohio, in 1841, amounted 
to $2,681 76 ; m Pennsylvania, $4,418 55. In 
1842, there was paid, as bounty in Ohio, $6, 699 61. 
The whole amount of reeled silk produced in Ohio 
is set down at 3,000 pounds. One person sold 300 



18 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



pounds of reeled silk for $1,600. The whole ag' 
gregate of the silk crop, throughout the United 
States, for 1842, has been given in our tabular 
view as 244,124 pounds of cocoons. 

It may be proper here to allude to a clerical 
error in the tabular statement of silk for 1841, in 
the last year's Report, as relates to the State 
of Massachusetts. Owing to some mistake in 
transcribing and reducing the amount of cocoons 
from bushels to poimds, the amount was set down 
at 198,432 pounds, instead of 19,843, as it should 
have been. It was early noticed, and connected in 
several of the agricultural papers. 



The sugar crop may be divided into that which 
is from cane,and that from maple and other sources. 

The cane crop is confined almost wholly to Louis, 
iana ; and, from the best information we can gatlier, 
it is believed to have been, on the whole, as sue. 
cessful the past year as in the previous one, if not 
more so. The early frost and high winds threat- 
ened it, and were thought to have cut off the crop 
by thousands of hogsheads; the clear, cold weather, 
however, succeeding, prevented it from province so 
injurious as a milder and more moist season would 
liave done. Even the frozen cane turned out very 
well, and thus nearly realized the full amount of the 
planters' expectations. The capital employed in 
the production of sugar is said to be $52,000,000, 
and the average manufacture is probably more 
than !$80,000,000 pounds, and 4,000,000 gallons 
of molasses. 

The amount of sugar manufactured from tlie 
SUGAR MAPLE has also increased during the past 
year ; and from various accounts, in different sec. 
tions of our country, it promises to be an ai'ticle 
of much importance, and, as it can be refined 
equal to the best West India sugar, it may be 
exported. In some of the States it lias doubled. 
Many of them possess large resources in this re. 
spect. For instance, it is said that there are at 
least 39,000 acres of land in Michigan which 
abound with the maple. A m?.ple-sugar tree is 
considered worth, to the farmer, from two to three 
dollars for its sugar ; and there are, on an average, 
in tlie sugar-maple districts, about 30 trees to an 
acre, which would give at least 900,000 trees, 
worth $1,800,000— probably $2,000,000. By 
suffering a portion of these to remain, while clear- 
ing up their land, the farmers would be able to 
derive much profit from them, from year to year. 

In some small towns m the New England States, 
as many as 30 tons have been produced during the 
past year. Much of tliis sugar, also, is made at a 
season of the year when the farmer there camiot 
be occupied in the tillage of his ground, and the 
time consumed will amomit only to a few weeks 
each year. Maple-sugar, equal to the best Cuba 
sugar, is now manufactured m flat pans, and it is 
capable of being refined, and producing a very fine 
article. 

The beautiful sample of maple-sugar from Ver- 
mont, deposited in the Patent-Oflice by the Hen. 
S. C. Crafts, induced an mquiry into the manu- 
facture of the article ; and a reference to Appendix 
19 cannot fail to gratify, as well as instruct, those 
whose curiosity or interest may lead them to in. 
vestigate the process. 

Comparatively little attention is now paid to the 



sugar.beet, as an article of manufacture into sugar. 
That it admits of being successfully used for this 
purpose, no one acquainted with what has been 
done in France and other countries on the conti- 
nent of Europe can doubt. The probability is, 
that it has not been attempted in this country on 
a sufficiently large scale to render it profitable. 
Yet large quantities of the beet-root have been 
raised to the acre. Tlie manufacture of beet- 
sugar, which has been carried out so largely in 
France, seems to have greatly declined for a few 
years past, and will, it is supposed, be broken up, 
in the desire to sustain her colonies. Not more 
than 44 manufactories are reported as in opera- 
tion there, in 1842 ; and the amoimt of beet-sugar 
deUvcred was only about one-half million pounds. 
Such, at least, is the account professedly derived 
fi-om the Report to the French Minister, and pub- 
lished in Paris. The whole aggregate sugar-crop 
for the United States in 1842, is estimated at 
142,445,199 pounds. 

CORX.STALK SUGAR. 

Numerous experiments have been tried in va- 
rious parts of the country, the past year, with re- 
spect to obtaining sugar from the com-stalk. 

It could, indeed, hardly be expected that persons 
entering into it without much knowledge of the 
process of manufacture, and, in many cases, never 
having been furnished with any plan on which to 
conduct it, and possessing no requisite machinery, 
and before the diflficulties attending its granulation 
had been removed, would be successful in their 
efforts. Yet the ro^ults have every where been 
so satisfactory, that, though but little sugar has 
been made, not one person from whom we have 
heard expresses a doubt of its entire practicabiUf y, 
or the least discouragement. On the contrary, 
they, one and all, confidently assert that the pro- 
duct will yet become a great staple in our country. 
An excellent molasses, or sirup, has usually been 
obtained ; and were this the only thing secured, 
yet, in this point of view, it would doubtless 
prove a great desideratum. 

Mr. Webb, of Wilmmgton, Delaware, to whom 
the country is so particularly indebted for intro. 
ducing this discovery to notice, and for his per. 
severance in demonstrating its practicabUity, made 
a definite experiment on a certain amount of land, 
sown as he had before recommended. Speakuig 
of his former views, he says : " These anticipa. 
tions have been more and more confirmed by every 
succeeding step in the investigation." He 
says, further : " There was no deficiency in the 
corn ; it was entirely in our mode of treating it ; 
and, after all, the failure was only in crysta- 
lization." It appears that the com was fully 
ripe before the least preparation had been made 
for manufacturing it ; and after this, delays were 
occasioned by breakages, incident to new nia- 
cliinery, by which the progress was so hindered 
that a considerable part of the crop was killed by 
the frost before it could be ground. He goes on to 
observe that the greatest part of the sugar he ob- 
tained was from this frost-killed corn, and says : 
" This fact is important, as it shows the superiority 
of corn over the cane." In tliis point it would 
seem he is mistaken, according to the account 
above given of the cane crop of Louisiema. He 
further says: "We obtained 50 gallons of Birup, 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



19 



which (being boiled to the density of sugaj) was 
much richer and better than the best sugar-house 
molasses ; part of it was sold at $1 per gallon. 
We also had 10 gallons of sirup evaporated in 
broad shallow vessels ; this crystalized readily, and 
made good sugar." Again : " Besides the pro- 
ducts above mentioned, we obtained from the 
acre about 40 gallons of vinegar. The fodder 
was equal in value to two tons of liay ; and there 
were 90 cart loads of stalks, after passing the 
mill. One-fourth of the crop was lost, in conse- 
quence of being prostrated by a storm late in the 
season, and another fourth from tiie stalk being 
imperfectly pressed. Considering every thing, 
the result is satisfactory." For further particu- 
lars of his process of evaporation, reference may 
be had to Document. No. 2. A fair review of 
the {ifogress of this experiment fully justifies his 
language : " I do not think that any manufacture 
ever promised better, ui the early stages of its in- 
troduction." In the Farmer's Cabinet for Janu- 
ary, 1843, a correspondent of that journal, whose 
opinion seems entitled to consideration, remarks : 
" Few persons would be apt to calculate the ex- 
pense attendant on even a small experiment in the 
making of sugar, whether from the cane, the 
beet, or the cornstalk ; all who know any thing 
about it, however, are aware of the fact, that the 
process, even from the first, is proverbially labo- 
rious, careful, and expensive." 

" Mr. Webb's apparatus cost him about $300. 
I shoidd rather add 1,000 to that sum. In my 
own opuiion, the cause of the failure ui the at- 
tempts to make sugar from the beet has arisen 
from the single circimistance of its never having 
been taken up on a, sufficiently expensive scale. 
Ill France, there is no difficulty or delay expe- 
rienced ; but tliere the machinery is equal to the 
labor required." The writer also refers to Mr. T. 
Morgan, of Louisiana, and says " that, according 
to his experience, the juice of the cornstalk, as 
stated by the saccharomctcr, is two-tenths stronger 
than the juice of the Louisiana sugar cane — a 
circumstance accounted for by the fact that the 
cane does not fully ripen in Louisiana, so that tlie 
juice is incipient." 

On the other hand, the com ripens perfectly, 
and then affords a juice properly corrected and 
matured, and hence defecation of it is remarkably 
easy. He further says : "I have been informed 
that Mr. Morgan was so well satisfied of the cul- 
tivation of the cornstalk, for the purpose of mak- 
ing sugar, that he, the last year, gave orders for 
the growth of a certain breadth on his sugar 
plantation, in Louisiana, the past siunmcr, so as 
to give him a full boiling of juice for his vacuum 
■ pan, that the trial might be made on a scale suffi- 
cient to produce actual results, by which to calcu- 
late, in a pecuniary point of view, the real value 
of cornstalk in the manufacturing of sugar, but 
that his intentions were frustrated, levelled to the 
dust, by a storm, which prostrated the corn, and 
entirely ruined his prospects. Speaking of some 
samples of sugar manufactured by Mr. Webb, 
he says : " It has been objected, that the grains 
are not so large and fully developed ; it is only a 
wonder that any grains at all should be made to 
appear, from the manner in which the granulating 
process had been compelled to be carried on. Mr. 
Morgan, with his 10,000 gallons of liquor, at 45° 



would soon be able to give a better accoimt of the 
matter." 

Mr. Blake, of Indianapolis, in Indiana, also 
tried an experiment on a larger scale ; but not 
having as much previous knowledge of the pro- 
cess as Mr. Webb had, did not succeed in ob- 
taining sugar. He says he made, in all, out of 
about 4i acres, about 270 or 180 gallons of thick 
sirup ; 25 gallons of the juice made 4 gallons 
of this sirup; and he is well assured that he 
left in the ground corn one-third of the juice. 
His corn was planted four feet wide, and drilled 
one way. He planted about six acres, but a por- 
tion of it was prostrated by a storm, and so was 
not used. He found that wooden cogs and jour- 
nals for the mill would not answer, and recom- 
mends iron-bound and iron-plated, and metal 
cogs and journals. He had no previous knowl- 
edge of sugar-making, of any kind, and of course 
had to encounter all the difficulties of a learner. 
For boiling, he used common 15 gallon iron ket- 
tles. The great difficulty he found was in ar- 
riving at the graining point, in boiling. His 
plan was to boil the juice of the cornstalk, as 
soon as the scum was removed, down to a strong 
sirup, and then put it into a cooler, or large tub, 
having two or three inch holes, one in a level 
with the bottom, the others an inch and a half 
from the bottom, and let it remain to the next 
day, and then boil it down to the graining point. 
He says also, " my main object ua trying the ex- 
periment was to ascertain whether cornstalk con- 
tained saccharine sufficient to make it an object 
to cultivate it hereafter, as one of the great sta- 
ples of our State. On this point, I am satisfied 
that, in a few years, it will become an article of 
export, and of great value to the West." — 
" My molasses is esteemed, by all who taste it, to 
be superior to New-Orleans." " From experi- 
ments I made when I had got my mill to work 
well, I could grind 300 gallons of juice in about 
18 hours' work, with two horses, allowing one 
hour for each horse at a time ; two boys could at- 
tend the mill with ease." 

" From the best estimate I can mak eof the cost 
per acre, in removing the ears, blading, topping 
and cutting, hauling grinding and boiling, &.C., 
it was between 12 and 15 dollars. Of course, 
it would have cost much less, if I had been as 
well organized as I could be, were I to carry on 
the business upon the same scale hereafter ; boys 
can do most of the work." He also expresses 
his full intention to go into the business with a 
view to permanency and profit. 

Others also, in Indiana, tried the experiment 
with various success, and by a communication 
from Mr. Plummer, of Richmond, in that State, 
it appears that, in all cases, the success equalled 
expectations as to the quantity per average acre ; 
but the quality was not so fine as expected, and it 
was supposed some added more cream of lime 
than was necessary. The sugar, however, proved 
equal to about second quality New Orleans. He 
also remarlis, that they found wooden rollers 
would not answer as well, as they were liable to 
cut in ridges, and thus much of the saccharine 
matter was lost. He further suggests, that, by 
planting the corn some days apart from each 
other, one mill might serve a number of persons, 
and thus the expense be lessened. The farmers 



20 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



there, he adds, as an evidence of their confi- 
dence, do not expect to open their sugar trees 
again. 

The conclusion is expressed by several, that 
from 600 to 1,000 pounds of sugar may easily be 
procured from an acre. 

Another person speaks of obtaining half a gal. 
Ion of sirup from a busliel and a half of crushed 
stalks. Mr. Goodrich, of Terre Haute, in Indi- 
ana, is also stated to have produced from eight 
gallons of juice two gallons of molasses, pronoun- 
ced by competent judges equal to the best sugar- 
house molasses. 

Mr. James T. Gilford, who tried some experi- 
ments with the cornstalk, on examination, found 
that the butt of the stalk remaining in the field 
retained its juice and saccharine matter until the 
hard freezing in November caused fermentation 
to commence, from which time the saccharine 
matter was too acid. It is also said, that sugar 
lias been made of the water in whicli the ears of 
com have been boiled ; irom whence it has been 
inferred that the cob contains much saccharine 
matter. Mr. Knapp, of Waynesville, Illinois, in 
a communication made to the Union Agricultur- 
ist, for October, published at Chicago, says : " I 
hasten to say briefly, that I have made about 
six gallons of maize molasses from what was 
judged (not measured) a barrel of expressed juice 
of the stalks. I find there is no difficulty what- 
ever in clarifying the juice with hydrate of lime, 
skimming until it boils, and then straining through 
a flannel. An immense quantity of extractive 
matter in the form of a fawn-colored precipitate 
IS thus speedily got rid of, and the evaporation is 
then conducted m the same manner as in making 
maple sugar. There are two other mills in this 
neighborhood. At one of them, sixty gallons of 
molasses have been made from an acre. In re- 
gard to crystalization, I entertain no scruples, 
when the evaporation is conducted properly and 
carried to the proper points." The experiment 
has been also tried, it is said, in South Carohna, 
even to granulation, without difficulty, with per- 
fect success ; and confidence in its importance as 
a product is expressed. 

In the number of the Albany Cultivator for 
January, 1843, a correspondent writes from Ohio, 
and, referring to an experiment of his own, says : 
" The result of this experiment has led me to the 
following conclusions : 

" Ist. That Mr. Webb's statement of the 
amount of sugar which can be made fi-om an 
acre is not overrated. 

" 2d. That stripping the ears from the stalks is 
essential to the production of sugar, though not 
essential in the production of a much smaller 
quantity of excellent molasses. 

" 3d. That large stalks yield much more juice 
than small ones in proportion to their size, and 
tliat, consequently, the corn should be grown in 
drills, and not by sowing broadcast. 

"4th. That the principal labor in making su- 
gar from cornstalks consists in stripping off" the 
leaves, and that this is most expeditiously accom- 
plished before the stalks are cut. 

" 5th. That three quarts of juice will yield sac- 
charine matter equal to one pound of sugar ; or 
that eight gallons of juice will make one gallon of 
thick molasses. 11 



" 6th. That the manufacture of sugar from 
cornstalks is an object well worthy the attention 
of every family who has even one acre of ground 
to cultivate." 

Such are some of the results of very imperfect 
experiments the first year after the announcement 
of the fact that sugar can be made from the corn- 
stalk. They were commenced and prosecuted, in 
most cases, with the simple view of deciding a 
question on which, probably, nearly all who had 
just learned that such a thing was asserted, were, 
to say the least, somewhat skeptical. They, too, 
had no conveniences for the manufacture ; and 
yet, with all these drawbacks to success, the 
question may be considered as fairly settled by a 
number of independent witnesses who need ©nly 
a knowledge of the process, 'and skill and ejqee- 
rience in conducting the trial hereafter, to insure 
complete success. In order to aid in this desirable 
object, and as so many are interested in whatever 
may throw Ught on the subject, Mr. Webb's ac- 
count, originally drawn up for the National Agri- 
cultural Society, will be subjoined in Document 
No. 3. 

As numerous inquiries also have been made re- 
specting the best process of clarification, a com- 
munication detaihng the mode has been obtained 
from Professor Mapes, of New-York, who has 
paid much attention to the subject, which will be 
found in Document No. 4. He, also, as will be 
perceived, expresses his conviction, from some ex- 
perimcnts on the cornstalk, of its entire superior- 
ity over the sugar cane, if the enthusiasm of those 
who made the fonner experiments published did 
not lead them into errors. 

The French scientific journals contain some 
notice of this subject, and a beUef is there ex- 
pressed that sugar can be manufactured from the 
cornstalk and from the Jig cactus found in the 
recent French possessions in Africa. 

There are some facts stated in relation to the 
manufacture of sugar from the cornstalk, it is 
thought proper to subjoin. They have been 
mostly derived from Porter's Treatise on the Cul- 
ture of the Cane. At 10° of Beaume's saccharo- 
meter, it is said, there are in 100 lbs. of cane 
juice or sirup 18 lbs. 6 oz. and 1 dr. of sugar. — 
This, it will be perceived, is not more, if as much, 
as Mr. Knapp and others obtained from the corn- 
stalk. The weight of water, beside what is 
termed the water of solution, to be evaporated to 
reduce the cane juice to a state of saturated solu- 
tion, is 70 lbs. 9 oz. 6 dr. A saturated solution of 
cane juice contains five parts of sugar and tlirce 
parts of water. This is indicated by 34° of 
Beaumo at the temperature of 82 Farenheit. — 
Seventeen ounces of lime are used for 390 gal- 
lons of cane juice. The greatest danger seems 
to be of using too large a proportion of alkali. — 
The highest produce of 100 gallons of cane juice 
for nine years average, on an acre of an estate se- 
lected in Jamaica, is stated to have been 122 lbs. 
of sugar. The experiments above cited, with re- 
spect to cornstalk, would show an equal, if not a 
greater average. It is evident, that the whole 
difficulty of granulation may be obviated by boil- 
ing immediately and quickly in not too large 
quantities. The paper of Professor Mapes, in 
the a Document, Iready referred to, will also fur- 
nish valuable information on this point. The 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



21 



Southern States, who have heretofore been enga- 
ged in the manufacture of cane sugar, possess pe- 
culiar advantages in this respect, as they are al- 
ready provided with the requisite machinery for 
grinding and boiling, and can apply theii* already 
acquired skOl, no doubt witli great effect. Hence, 
we need not be surprised, if we should hereafter 
find them taking the lead in this business. It is 
a truly gratifying reflection, that, while the tem- 
perance reformation is so greatly lessening the 
consumption of corn in the manufacture of whis- 
key, the introduction of tliis manufacture of corn- 
stalksugar promises to furnish a much more prof- 
itable as well as salutary application. 



As this product was set down in the table of the 
last report, based on the census statistics, it has 
been retained. It is believed, however, that no 
material alteration has occurred, as there is Httle 
to occasion any advance, and, probably, some 
causes on the other hand to discourage it. The 
cultivation of the grape, however, is still success- 
fidly continued, and several indigenous species 
have been tried and approved. The whole wine 
crop for 1842 is estimated at 130,748 gallons. 

AGGREGATE CROP FOR 1842. 

The entire aggregate of the crop for 1842 thus 
appears to be very great. Altliough lessened in 
some States, yet the amount of the whole is much 
increased. The estimates might have been larger 
but the aim has been to fall short rather than ex- 
ceed the truth. Very many interesting deductions 
and comparisons might be made in reference to 
the individual States and the proportions of parti- 
cular products raised to the populatian ; but these 
must be left to each one to form for himself from 
the data furnished in the tabular estimate. 

The amount of breadstufls, including corn and 
potatoes, is 716,147,950 bushels. Tliis allows for 
each man, woman, and child, of our whole po- 
pulation nearly 39 bushels ; or, should we estimate 
the quantity for each mdividual according to the 
usual allowance in England, the surplus product 
would be very great. 

It should be recollected, also, that the mere 
breadstuffs and potatoes form by no means the 
whole amount of surplus food, as the last census 
shows a vast amount of other articles of this de- 
scription. 

OTHER PRODUCTS NOT EMBRACED IN THE TABLE. 

It may be well here, also, to allude to certain 
products not mentioned in the tabular estimate, 
which have been sometimes proposed as offering 
some encouragement to tlie agriculturist to engage 
in raising them, and thus add to the means of 
employing the labor which must be given to agri- 
culture, and which yet, owing to the vast sur- 
plus of the grains, &c, above the home con- 
sumption, seems to promise but little profit. 

One of these is broomcorn, which is much cul- 
tivated (and with success) in some towns on the 
Connecticut river, in Massachusetts. The amount 
produced on one acre varies from 800 to 1,000 lbs., 
besides 60 or 70 bushels of seed. The brush is 
said to be worth 4 or 5 cents per lb. ; in 1837, it 
was worth 12^ cents per lb. The seed on an acre, 
at 33 cents a bushel, is said to be equal to a crop 



of oats. In Northampton and its vicinity, not 
less than 1,300 acres are thus cultivated, worth, 
for the brush and seed, $100,000. The seed 
usually weighs 40 lbs. per bushel. The manufac- 
ture of brooms in a small town (Hadley) in Mas- 
sachusetts, is estimated at $160,000 ; 80,000 
brooms were manufactured by one man in a year. 
To a limited extent, this culture of the broom- 
corn and its manufacture might be yet more exten- 
sively engaged in with advantage. The process 
of cultivation is similar to that of maize or Indian 
com. Further details are given in Appendix, 
No. 5. 

Another article towards which attention may 
be turned is madder, of which it is said 5,000 tons 
are annually imported. This, however, being 
a plant of three years' growth before any advantage 
can be obtained from it, is not likely to engage 
much the attention of agriculturists. 

The SAFFLOWER and saffron, which have, 
perhaps, been confounded by many persons, are 
other articles of the dyestuffs which have some- 
times been suggested as objects worthy of atten- 
tion. The first of these yields a rich pink dye ; 
but, for various reasons, it can hardly be much 
of an object to our fanners. Owing to its high 
price, the demand for saf&on is much more than 
for the safHowers. 

The rhus cotinus, or sumach, has also been re- 
commended. Many thousand tons of this pro- 
duct are annually imported from Trieste. It is a 
perennial plant, and it is said might yield two 
crops in a year ; and it is supposed that, as it bears 
a strong resemblance in many respects to the su- 
mach indigenous with us, it would succeed and 
be profitable. 

The crops of the various roots of peas, beans, 
&c, for animals as well as for vegetables for the 
table, are increasing. A new addition to these 
has been suggested in the hog-root, a species of 
the arum, and possessed of much nutritious mat- 
ter, of which swine especially are particulaly 
fond. Among other recommendations, have been 
mentioned its great productiveness, and that it is 
indigenous, being very abundant, especially in 
Virginia. 

Cranberries aboimd in vast quantities in the 
moist prairies in Michigan and some of the West- 
ern States. By means of a newly-invented rake, 
very simple in its construction and not expensive, 
40 bushels may be gathered by one man in a day ; 
and a cargo of 1,500 bushels have been sent to 
one of the Atlantic States, from the northern part 
of Indiana, in a flat-boat, at one time. The price 
wliich this product often commands in the mar- 
kets of the cities along the Atlantic varies from 
$1 50 even up to $2 50 or $3 50 per bushel. 
They can be gathered at the West at an expense 
of not more than 50 cents per bushel. Tiie duty 
on them in England is not more than 2 cents per 
gallon by direct trade. They may also be made 
to produce largely by cultivation. Sir Joseph 
Banks is said to have raised them at the rate of 
460 bushels by the acre. 

Ginseng is an indigenous product, and it is 
raised in lange quantities at the West. This is 
an important article of export to China, and the 
amount sent out to that country within the last 
12 or 15 months is said to be upwards of a million 
of dollars in value. 



2^ 



improvements in Agriculture and ihs Arts. 



To the same country, also, now becoming par- 
ticularly important to us by the additional facili- 
ties of commercial intercourse, large quantities of 
LEAD are also shipped ; 100,000 pigs, weighing 
3,000 tons, valued at $250,000, were sent there, 
from the West, in the year 1842. This, besides 
being a western product, is so intimately connect- 
ed with the question of diversion from agricultur- 
al labor, that the mention of it in this place does 
not seem improper. 

A new method of preserving eggs, by packing 
them in salt with the small end downwards, and 
by which they have been kept perfectly good for 
8 or 9 months, will, it is believed, enable the in- 
habitants of portions of our country where these 
abound to make them profitable. Tiiousands of 
bushels may be sent off to the Atlantic markets. 
Great quantities are used in France ; and as the 
duty on them in England is so low, (not two cents 
per dozen,) they might bear exportation. They 
have been gathered and sold at the West as low 
as 90 cents per bushel ; which, as a bushel con- 
tains 45 dozen, is but 2 cents per dozen. 

From present experiments, the introduction and 
raising of sheep on the vast prairies of the West 
are to be anticipated, and it would not be sm'pri- 
sing if there should be a great change in the terri- 
tory to which the consumers of wool must look 
for much of their raw material. Hitherto, the New 
England and Middle States have principally fm'- 
nished the market with wool. But sheep are al- 
ready beginning to acquire importance in the view 
of the farmers and planters of the West and South ; 
and if the importation of 1,100 merino bucks in a 
single year into South America produced such a 
change in their flocks, why may not equally as 
striking a result be effected in the Western and 
Southern States by a similar introduction there ? 
Millions of sheep could be sustained at little ex- 
pense on the belt of the oak timber land running 
through^ Georgia, 70 miles wide by 150 miles 
long. Indeed, there is scarcely one of the 
Southern States but would furnish some good 
section for the keeping of flocks on the up- 
lands. Planters are now also actually be- 
ginning to collect their flocks. The sheep- 
raising States ofthc North must expect com- 
petition. The fanner in the higher and cold- 
er latitudes, who has to fodder his flock for a long 
winter, will certainly feel the effect of this new 
direction of sheep husbandrj', brought, as he will 
be, into competition with those who enjoy the ad- 
vantage of an almost perennial spring. So soon 
as the planter ceases to be absorbed in the produc- 
tion of cotton, the streams of the South will be 
lined with mills, and various operations of ma- 
chinery. The Northern and Middle States can- 
not but see that it will do so. There are many 
locations south and west of the Delaware where 
three sheep at least can be kept as cheap as one 
can on the confines of the Canadas. 

Pasturage to almost any extent covers the prai- 
rie range, and grass and grain for a short winter's 
feed are cut and reaped by machines at a trifling 
expense. One gentleman, it is stated, in the vi- 
cinity of Buffalo, New York, having a prairie 
farm in Illinois of some 500 acres, purchased 2,000 
sheep, which he placed upon it, under the care of 
two faithful shepherds. The sheep v^'ere kept 
without difficulty in the best of health, and the 



proprietor, as the first fruits of his enterprise, re- 
ceived 6,000 pounds of good wool worth 30 cents 
per pound. The transportation from Illinois to 
Buffalo cost about one cent per pound. These 
facts are mentioned, not to discourage effort but to 
prepare the producer of wool to meet the condition 
of things that must soon take place in a state of 
general peace and depression of price of all the 
staple products. By the last census, it appears 
that tliere are in the United States about twenty 
millions of sheep. It has been thought by those 
who have paid attention to this subject that this 
number is much too low ; and the supposition has 
been made that there are not less than thirtj'-four 
milhons of sheep in this whole country, of which 
one-fifth are in New- York. The safer estimate 
would probably be about twenty-five millions ; the 
estimated value of which, at ^2 per head, would 
g-ive $50,000,000. Three sheep is the general 
allowance per acre for winter provender and sum- 
mer pasture. The aggregate quantity of land nec- 
essary is more than 8,330000 acres ; which, at the 
average of $15 per acre, (perhaps ij would reach 
even to $20,) would be nearly $125,000,000.— 
The amount of wool produced at an average of 2 
pounds the fleece is 50,000,000 pounds, which 
probably, at the lowest average price, is equal to 
$12,000,000. It will thus be seen that this ob- 
ject is one of no fit tie importance, and that, there- 
fore, it deserves a place while suggesting diver- 
sions of labor which may be anticipated. 

Another product connected with the clearing 
up of lands by new settlers is that of pot or peari, 
ashes. The latter of these can be prepared for 
the market very easily in the form of black salts, 
and at little expense. These arc said to find a 
ready sale. Potashes, also, may be produced, 
though it requires a somewhat larger expense of 
capital. Five hundred pounds of pot or pearl 
ashes for one acre of good timber is said to be a 
very safe calculation, and this sells at $25. Ev- 
ery 400 bushels of ashes carcfidly saved will pro- 
duce a ton of pot or pearl ashes, into which they 
can be turned in 36 hours. For some further de- 
tails of this subject, reference may be made to 
Documents Nos. 6 and 7. It appears that 2,437 
casks of ashes from one port v/erc exported in 1842, 
valued at $48,740. 

The tabular statement contains no columns de- 
voted, as in the report for 1841, to the domestic 
animals, the produce of the dairy, orchard, and 
horticulture ; but it is evident, from all the infor- 
mation which has come under the notice, that 
these are also steadily advancing. Agriculture 
is yet destined to experience a great impulse from 
the new light which is just breaking in upon the 
farmer, as respects the composition of soils, ma- 
nures, &c. An agricultural literature is forming 
of a most important character ; and, by the revo- 
lution in the mode of publishing books, it may be 
expected that ere long om- farmers in the remo- 
test parts of the country may feel the effect of 
such a diffusion of combined scientific and prac- 
tical knowledge. Liebig, Daubeny, and John- 
stone's works, and others, which have recently 
been brought before the public, contain much in- 
formation on the important subjects of analysis 
and adaptation, and the effect of various kinds of 
cultivation and enriching of the soil. And here 
too, it may not be improper to mention another 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



23 



work, in itself a treasmy of knowledge in agri- 
culture and every thing kindred to it — London's 
EncyclopoBdia of Agriculture. Perhaps it would 
not be too much to predict that, in the coui'se of 
years, an entire change will be wrought in the 
mode of applying manures. The wonderful skill 
of the Chinese in improving their soil, not so 
good as most parts of our own naturally, by which 
they are enabled, as It is now well ascertained, to 
support a population of more than 300,000,000 
throughout their vast empire, is owing to their 
wisdom and care in adapting their manures 
and modes of cultivation to the peculiarities 
required by the soil. As they separate its 
enriching elements, rejecting the parts that can 
have no effect, they are not constantly ex- 
posed to a new growth of weeds, and the seeds of 
v\rhich are sown among the loads of compost had 
other manures carried out into the field. Hence 
a weed is a rare thing in theu fields, and as soon 
as it makes its appearance is easily seen and erad- 
icated. The time is not far distant when the am- 
monias, silicate of potash, phosphates, &c, 
which render a particular manure valuable, will 
be prepared and used in the form of salts, or in a 
liquid form, sprinkled over the soil, instead of 
whole loads being carted out from the barn yard 
and compost heap for this purpose. It needs only 
the diffusion of such knowledge, and the success- 
ful trial by some of our most intelligent and prac- 
tical farmers and planters, to overcome the preju- 
dice against changes like these, which would do 
so much to benefit our agriculture. As an evi- 
dence of this fact, it may be mentioned that many 
acres of worn-out lands in Virginia have been re- 
covered by the skill and toil of enterprising far- 
mers from New England and New York, so that 
farms under this culture in many instances have 
been doubled, and even tripled in value. 

It is gratifying also to observe that the atten- 
tion of the State Legislatures are more and more 
turned to the subject of agriculture. 

The State of New- York, by a law passed May 
5, 1841, appropriated $8,000 per annum, for five 
years, for the encouragement of agriculture and 
household manufactures, to be divided between 
the county societies, which raise a certain sum of 
money for the same purposes. Had a longer time 
been permitted before the transmission of the re- 
port to Congress recom'se might have been had to 
the valuable report of the New- York State Agri. 
cultural Society, which is yearly required by the 
provisions of the State law. 

J.ARD OIL, ETC. 

The subject of the manufacture of oil from corn 
and LARD was introduced to the notice of the public 
in the report oflast year. As corn oil has hereto- 
fore been connected with distillation, althouo-h 
it is easily made and answers a good purpose, less 
attention bas been devoted to it. It has been sucr. 
gested, on good authority, that it can be gathered 
from the mash which is prepared for fermentation 
for feeding swine. If this should be confii-med 
by further experiments, as it would not be liable 
to the same objection urged against the former, 
the manufacture of spirituous liquors, it may here- 
after be carried on to a great extent. No doubt 
seems to be entertained of its value for burning. 



and all other purposes to which oil is applied but 
painting. 

Much interest has been felt in the subject of oil 
from lard, and the almost daily inquiries respect- 
ing its process of manufactm-c, &c, and its close 
connexion v.dth the question of disposing of our 
agricultural products, forms a reason for giving it 
a more extended consideration in these remarks. 
Complete success has attended the enterprise. — 
Several large factories for the manufactm-e of this 
oil have been some time in operation in Cincin- 
nati, and thousands of gallons are daily prepared 
for home consumption and exportation. It is also 
carried on at Cleveland, Ohio ; Chicago, Illinois ; 
Burlington, Iowa ; Hannibal, Missoiu-i ; and 
other places both in the Western and the Atlantic 
States. 

It is considered much superior to olive or sperm 
oil for machinery and for the manufacture of 
woolens, &-c. It can be furnished also at half the 
price, and tlierefore it will doubtless supersede that 
article of import. As it contains less gelatine 
than other oils it is found much better for comb- 
ing wool, for which purpose a single factory 
wished to contract for 10,000 gallons from one 
establishment. It is also undergoing trial in Eng- 
land ; and, if it succeeds, of which there can 
scarcely be a doubt, large orders for it may be ex- 
pected, or at least the American lard itself, which 
pays a less duty, will find a ready market. An 
order for 600 gallons, with this view, has already 
been received for the use of a cloth factory in Hud- 
dersfield, England. It has also been stated in the 
journals, that a gentleman is about taking out 
a large quantity, recently ordered from the West, 
for the purpose of trying it there as an article of 
trade, and it has lately been stated that 1G,000 
bbls. have been sent from Cincinnati to England. 
Repeated experiments, too, have shown that for 
the purpose of combustion no oil is superior. It 
is important, in trying it with this view, to obtain 
a good article, manufactured from good lard, and 
not from the dark-burned which creates smoke and 
clogs the flame. For want of sufficient care in 
this respect, some have no doubt met with disap- 
pointment in their attempts to substitute this oil 
for sperm oil in the lamps. 

The follo-i\'ing are given as the relative consti- 
tuents of lard oil and sperm' oil, in 100 parts of 
either : 

Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen. 

Lard oil 79.03 11.422 9.548 

Sperm Oil 79.05 11.6 8.9 

It will thus be seen that the difference in carbon 
is only 3.00 ; about the same in hydrogen ; while 
in oxygen it is about 4.10 in favor of the lard oil. 
The large quantity of carbon proves that it may 
be rehed on as a material for giving light, as it is 
well ascertained that whenever carbon pre- 
dominates in an animal oil the article capable 
of a high degree of luminous power. Ex- 
periments have been made by Mr. Campbell Mor- 
fit, of Philadelphia, which may be found men- 
tioned in the paper furnished by him in Document 
No. 8. These resulted in favor of lard oil. About 
60 lbs. in 100 of good lard, in tallow only 28 is oil ; 
and the processes of manufacture resorted to, 
show that it may be made a profitable business. — 
Large orders have already been executed at the 
West for this oil, to be used in the Eastern States. 



84 



Imjprovements in Agriculture and ihe Arii. 



The heat of lard oil for the blow pipe has been 
found to be much greater than that of sperm. — 
Lard itself melts at 82° of Farenhcat ; its specific 
gravity at 60° is 0.938. Lard crystalizes in small 
globules ; sperm in flakes or scales. It is soluble 
in boiling alcohol. The proportion is 80 gallons of 
lard to 1 of alcohol. The application of stearin for 
candles, which was also alluded to in the last year's 
report, promises greatly to reduce the price of that 
article, as will be seen by Mr. Morfit's letter, al- 
ready alluded to in the Document No. 8. He 
thinks that the price of such candles, equal to 
spermaceti, may be eventually reduced to 12^ 
cents per pound. 

As the capillary attraction of lard oil is not so 
great as that of sperm, it is recommended that the 
form of the' lamp should be such as to bring the 
bulk of the oil as near to the point of combustion 
as possible. 

It is also recommended, that the tube should be 
filed thinner at the top where the wick is inserted 
to prevent the escape of heat. Various lamps have 
been constructed for burning lard as well as lard 
oil, which have been found to answer very well. 
The solar astral lamp, for this purpose, affords a 
light unsurpassed by any other for brilliancy and 
quality of luminous power : and the letter of Mr. 
Milford, Collector of Cleveleind, Oliio, (Document 
No. 9,) shows that the burning of this oil has 
been mtroduced with entire success into the light- 
houses on Lake Erie. An objection has been 
made against lard oil, that it is not capable of be- 
ing preserved in a liquid state in cold weather ; but 
by a process similar to that by which the winter 
sperm is prepared, lard oil can be made which 
will not chill at 30° Farenheit. 

The importance of tliis application of lard can 
scarcely yet be realized. Vast quantities of the 
oil can be manufactured at the West. Indeed, 
there is hardly any assignable limit to the power 
of production of the article, so that, while the 
demand continues, the business may be conduct- 
ed profitably. The immense herds of swine, 
which can be suffered to range over the lands 
adapted to them, and gather their food from mast 
as well as the surplus of corn, wheat, potatoes, &c, 
on wliicli they may be sustained, admit of the 
manufacture being carried on to almost any extent. 

The proportion of lard to the whole hog is about 
60 per cent., after taking out the hams and shoul- 
ders, or taking out the hams only ; the estimate 
for hogs of the best breeds, and so fed as to pro- 
duce the greatest quantity of fat, is 70 per cent. 
As the object is not in this case to make 
pork for food, the objection against those species 
of nuts, and other modes of feeding which ren- 
der the animal more gross and oily, is obviated ; 
and it has been proposed to feed out oil cake to 
swine, to increase the proportion of oil. 

An important letter, in relation to the manu- 
facture of lard oil, &c, will be found, together 
with Mr. Morfit's account, before mentioned, in 
the Documents Nos. 8 and 10, the necessity of the 
publication of which is every day becoming more 
and more apparent from the continual demand on 
the Patent Ofiice for copies of the mode of extract- 
ing the oil from lard. The specification of one 
manufacturer, who has patented his process, has 
also been added for the same reason, as niunerous 
copies arc continually requested. (Document IL) 



By a new process of steaming, (a very simple 
method, a description of which will be found in 
the letter of Mr. Stafford, before mentioned, in 
Document No. 10, (it appears that the wliole 
of the lard or oily matter in the hog, or of taUow 
in cattle, may be obtained ; while the danger of 
burning (common in other modes) is avoided, the 
consmnption of fuel lessened, and the degree of 
pressure required not so great as otherwise. It 
will be recollected that, while conducting the 
manufacture of lard, the other parts of the animal, 
as the hams and shoulders, may be turned to 
profit. Besides these, also, the hides may be 
tanned by a cheap process ; and the bones, which 
are worth half a cent per pound, may be calcined 
and made into animal carbon, for wliich they are 
said to be worth, in this calcined state, two and 
a half cents per pound. 

Oil is likewise made of the sunflower — 35 gal 
Ions to an acre. The cultivation of the castor bean 
continues to be carried on with increasing success 
for the manufacture of castor oil, wliich may also 
be turned into stearin and oil for burning. A 
single firm in St. Louis has worked up 18,500 
bushels of beans in fom- months, producing 17,750 
gallons of oil, and it is stated that 800 barrels 
have been sold at $50 the barrel. This oil, like- 
wise, admits of being prepared for machinery, 
soap, &c., and it is much more soluble in alcohol 
than lard. A new experiment, too, as to the intro- 
duction ofRAPESEED,for the same purpose, promises 
much success, as it is fovmd that rich ground will 
produce from 25 to 40 bushels to the acre. Ten 
quarts of oil may be obtained from a bushel of the 
seed. Oil cake is worth, per bushel, about the 
same as oats. This oil sells for from 75 cents to 
$1 the gallon. For further details, as to this ex- 
periment, reference may be made to the letter of 
the Postmaster at Erie, Pennsylvania — Document 
No. 12. 

A more beautiful article of lard is now also 
manufactured, which is of the purest white, and 
much harder than the ordinary kind, and which 
thus possesses additional advantages for exporta- 
tion, as it wDl bear being sent to the warmer cli- 
mates, and can be prepared by a rapid process 
which costs not over half a cent the pound. The 
details of this will be found in Mr. Stafford's let- 
ter previously referred to in Document No. 10. 

These various articles just mentioned, have been 
brouglit together, as they arc of a kindred char- 
acter, and constitute a branch of business which 
is probably destined to become a most important 
one in our country. It may be well, indeed, to look 
at this subject a little more closely, and in detail 
to ascertain the means we have of future produc- 
tion,- as this lard is one of the articles on which 
the duty in England and France are so low as to 
bear exportation. In the first place : What are 
the materials of manufacture at home ? The live 
animals can be raised at little comparative ex- 
pense ; and this business, as we have before said, 
can be carried on to almost any extent. 

Few persons, who have not taken the trouble 
of calculation, are aware of the results of an ex 
amination into this subject. It would be thought 
strange, were the assertion made, that the export 
of oil, pork, and lard, were a market opened to 
us, might be equal to that of our heaviest staples 
— even to that of cotton ; but it is believed that 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



25 



it can be strictly demonstrated that not only this 
is true, but that it might reach in value beyond 
all the exports from this country the past year. 
The calculation is an easy one : Pork can be 
raised in all the States ; and wherever there exists 
mast and wild vegetable roots, the expense is very 
trifling ; for, it wUl be remarked, that, for the 
purpose of making oil, it is inamaterial how great 
is the degree of oleaginous food, which is given 
to swine. Beech, oak, hickory, and walnut, all 
fiu-nish excellent food. Corn, too, may be raised 
on the prairies at $3 per acre, standing in the 
field, where the swine arc turned in to feed; 
making the cost six cents per bushel — allowing 
(whicli is a fair estunate) 50 bushels to the acre. 
If any one doubt the practicability of this, it will 
only be necessary to consider the fact, that one 
mcui can attend to 40 acres, which, beginning 
early in the season, he can plough with horses at 
the rate of two acres per day, plant with the corn- 
planter from five to ten acres a day, ;j,nd then till 
it with the cultivator. At $3 per acre, the sup- 
position before mentioned, this would make his 
receipt for the three and a half or four months 
cmployed,$120 or $30 to$ 35 a month, for wa- 
ges, expenses, &c. As a further means of keep- 
mg the swine, rye may be sown on the ploughed 
sod to furnish winter food ; and by taking them 
off in the spring, a crop of rye may be raised, 
making a good sustenance for the swine — they 
being turned in to feed upon it standing after it is 
ripe. It has hkewise been found that, since the 
animals scatter some of the grain on the field, the 
same piece of ground will yield two or three sea- 
sons without any extra ploughing. It may also 
be remarked, in passing, that rye pastures are 
found to be excellent for wintering cattle without 
injury to the crop of grain, if the stock is taken 
off early in the spring. 

Such, then, are the facilities for raising swine. 
We can, however, carry the calculation further. 
The number of swme reported in the census for 
1839 is over 26,300,000. There is reason to be- 
lieve that the number has very greatly increased 
in many of the Western States since hat time. — 
Thus, it is stated, that, in Michigan, in 1837, 
when the State census was taken, the number of 
hogs reported was 109,096 ; in 1839, by the 
United States census, was reported the nmnber 
342,920 being an increase in only two years of 
232,535, or more than 100,000 in a year. It is 
supposed, by a writer who appears to be well ac- 
quainted with the products of that State, that in 
1841 there were not less than 700,000 swine in 
the State ; according to which ratio there would 
probably be now over 1,000,000. The whole 
number in the United States, therefore, estimated 
simply at an increase of five per cent, the year, 
would now exceed 30,000,000. Taking this, 
therefore, as a fair estimate, and allowing that 
one-hall' of them should be fatted to average 300 
lbs., and for the purpose of lard they would need 
to weigh 300 or 400 lbs., we should have the fol- 
lowing results, viz : 15,000,000 hogs weighing 
4,500,000,000 lbs. Deducting the two hams, 
which might be estimated at 20 lbs. each, allow- 
ing also a loss of one-third in curing, is equal to 
400,000,000 lbs., and trying up the remainder, 
equal to 39,000,000 lbs., on wliich 60 per cent, of 
lard might be obtained, gives 2,340,000,000 lbs. 



of Icird ; and since 8 lbs. of lard equals a gallon of 
oil and stearin combined, tliis amounts to 292,. 
500,000 gallons, which is equal to 9,285,714 bar- 
rels. This is more than twenty-five times the 
amount of sperm and whale oil annually brought 
into the United States, including also palm and 
olive oils. Allowing 40 lbs. for the two hams, as 
we have seen, gives 400,000,000 lbs. Estimating 
now the lard oil and stearin combined at 50 cents 
per gallon and the hams at 6 cents per lb., we 
have the enormous sum total of .$170,250,000. — 
This would probabl;^ equal over three times the 
export value of cotton at the ])resent low price or 
perhaps even the whole crop for this year ; as the 
whole crop for 1842, according to the best esti- 
mate which a careful examination enables us to 
make, amounts to 683,333,231 lbs., which, at 6^ 
cents per lb., is 44,416,650. This, too, is nearly 
double the whole value of our exports, as appears 
from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. 

It is, indeed, admitted that wc have not, and 
probably may not for a long time, if ever, have 
so large a quantity of lard and hams for exporta- 
tion ; but the supposition is only made to show 
the capabilities of the country in tliis respect. 
There is not the slightest difficulty, were the ef- 
fort made, in doubling the number of swine in 
the United States, so that the whole surplus above 
the present number could be thus used for the ma- 
nufacture of lard and oil. Besides the ai-ticles 
mentioned in the case supposed above do not re- 
quire salt, and may be preserved with great ease, 
us well as allow the animals to be kUled earlier, 
so as to secure a full market ; and the former is a 
consideration of no small importance, especially 
in portions of the country where salt is high. It 
will be found more profitable at present, at the 
price of lard and oil abroad, to use the whole hog 
for this purpose, the hams and sides excepted. 
It should be mentioned, too, here, that in the 
above calculation no account has been taken of a 
variety of articles whicli arc worth something, 
and which might aid to defray the expense of the 
preparation of the lard and hams. Thus, as to 
the hides, tliey may be taken off with the hair at 
about the same expense as by scalding, and may 
be tanned at ^5 per dozen, or preserved by sprinli- 
ling the fresh hides, spread out smooth, with salt, 
laying one over another, flesh sides together, mi- 
til tliere are fifty or sixty together. They can 
then remain in this state imtd cured, and may be 
rolled up and transported to any market. The 
leather of these hides, when tanned, is used not 
only for saddles, collars, trunks, but also for 
binding books — a substitute for Russia leather — 
and many other pmposes. The bristles will pay 
ui part for preparing the hides for the market. 
Hides, wlien well curried, will bring, it is said, 
from $15 i.to $50 per dozen. Hams, too, are 
said to be better when cured without skins, as the 
gum of the skin injures the taste of the meat and 
retards the salting operation. 

It may be remarked here, also, that a demand 
for oil and candles from lard will, of course 
greatly advance the price of pork for consiunp 
tion, and thus, while a new staple is created, an 
old one is greatly improved. An increase of only 
one cent per pound on swine slaughtered in the 
United States will make an aggregate in value of 
at least $30,000,000. Tiiis sum would not, in- 



26 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



deed, actually be realized in cash, as little pork, 
comparatively, is now sent to market, but is con- 
sumed by the family where it is raised. That 
country which produces beef andpork to most ad- 
vantage, and especially if wheat is also added, 
must excel in agricultural profits. 

FOREIGN MARKET. 

In looking at the details just given, evidently 
proving the unmense resources our country pos- 
Besses m these products, as they may properly be 
termed, of her soil, the question naturaUy arises : 
Is there any demand for them abroad ? It can 
be shown, it is believed, that this demand is 
greater than has been supposed, and that it seems 
likely to increase. A part of the bearings of this 
subject will be brought up in connexion with ano- 
ther portion of these remarks ; but it may be weU 
here to observe that from New Orleans the export 
of lard for the year 1841 and 1842 to foreign 
ports was 172,2b0 kegs, while that to the ports of 
the United States was over 260,000 kegs. 

To Cuba, whose exports to the United States 
have much exceeded her imports from this coun- 
try, as appears from the report of the commercial 
relations of the United States by the Secretary of 
State, there were shipped, during the year 1838, 
5,884,028 lbs., valued at $368,146, at a duty of 
four cents per lb. The desire to obtain lard from 
abroad has induced England to admit it into her 
ports at less than half a cent per lb. duty when 
taken in American vessels, or when taken through 
the Canadas at less than one-eighth of one cent, 
per pound. The duty in France is a little more 
than two cents per pound, to her colonies not 
more than one half a cent per pound ; when sent 
to the Netherlands and Belgium, one mill per 
pound ; in Texas it is free ; in Venezuela, four 
cents per pound. Large quantities of the olive 
oil, for which lard can be substituted, are used 
for making soap. In Marseilles, it is stated, on 
good authority, that not less than 17,000 lbs. are 
thus used daily. 

IMPROVED MODE OF FENCING. 

While the cultivation of timber land will be 
hastened by the new method, heretofore described, 
of making pot and pearl ashes, where the pre- 
servation of wood is not an object of interest, an 
improved mode of fencing the prairies gives great 
facilities for converting what has been hitherto 
deemed almost waste land to immediate use ; and 
when it is considered that, as appears by an esti- 
mate made at the Land Office, there are in four 
States and two Territories, 39,000,000 of acres of 
prairie lands, viz : in Ilhnois 11,000,000 acres, in 
Indiana 5,000,000, in Missouri 9,000,000, in Ar- 
kansas 4,000,000, in Wisconsin and Iowa, re- 
stricted to surveyed lands alone, each, 5,000,000 
acres, some of which arc quite remote from tim- 
ber, it must be matter of congratulation, espe- 
cially to those States, as also to the United States, 
still holding portions, to know that such lands 
can now be enclosed with one-fourth the expense 
of a Virginia fence. Where a section of 640 
acres is enclosed, it may be done at a cost not 
exceeding forty cents per acre, where the labor 
and materials are all pm-chased. The fence now 
recommended is composed of a ditch and embank- 
ment of three feet high, or a fence three feet high 
on the top of the embankment. The hedge fence 



so much commended in Europe, will not answer 
for the prairies, as the weeds grow up with the 
hedge, and thus furnish much friel to consume the 
hedge in its earlier growth, or even in its more 
matured condition ; and this will be the case until 
general cultivation protects the prairie from annual 
fires. The ditch, too, of itself alone, is a poor 
defence against the effect of frost, and the attacks 
of cattle. A combination of the two seems to 
offer all the advantages of both, as the soil is 
drained by the ditch, and the same forms in part 
the fence, thus saving much timber. 

It requires 26,500 rails to enclose a section of 
land with the Virginia panel equal to 8 rails, stake 
and rider, whereas, it takes only 3 rails for a panel 
on the plan of the ditch and embankment; nor is 
this all, the rails on the embankment need not be 
over one-half the size of those in a Virginia or 
worm fence. The great saving will be apparent 
when we reflect that four panels of Virginia fence 
are equal in distance only to three panels of fence 
made straight. Three rails on the embankment 
are sufficient. Hence, nine rails on the latter 
plan are equal to forty on the former one ; and 
when the difference in the size are taken into con- 
sideration, the proportion will not be over four and 
a half to forty, making a saving in timber, cart- 
ing and hauling, <Slc, almost incredible. In the 
success of such a plan, the United States are deep. 
ly interested ; for it must add millions of dollars 
to the Treasury, besides enhancing the value of 
land now likely to remain a long time without im- 
provement, and saving from destruction the vast 
quantities of timber which the enclosure of the 
prairie in the ordinary mode of fencing would re- 
quire. This plan, having been made the subject 
of great attention, and found to answer the pur- 
pose, can be safely recommended. The machine- 
ry to accomplish all this as described wUl not ex- 
ceed $10, and may be constructed by ordinary 
workmen. Drawings of the plough and scraper, 
and the machinery of its construotion, ^vith a de- 
scription in full of the manner of making the 
fence, will be found in Dociunent No. 13, A 
model, also, of full size, of both the fence as 
standing and the various machinery, may be seen 
at the Patent Office. A letter from a gentleman 
at the West, (see Document No. 14,) fully sustains 
the above opinion of its practicabiHty. 

MODE OF CONSTRUCTING HOUSES. 

Another improvement relating to a cheap mode 
of constructing houses where timber is scarce, 
which shall be at once durable and comfortable, 
as it has a most important bearing on the vast un- 
occupied lands of the several States and the na- 
tion, may not be inappropriately mentioned. Its 
full advantages may be appreciated by an exami- 
nation of the plan, which will be found in a de. 
tailed statement, for which see Document No. 15. 
Many who have been made acquainted with this 
method have deemed it most desirable to have it 
published for the benefit of the country at larg 'o 

RAILROADS. 

Connected with this general subject likewise, an 
allusion may be here made to a plan of construct- 
ing cheap rails with a wooden track for horses. — 
Although it has not been practicable to obtain the 
details in season for this report, yet it may be men- 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



27 



tioned that, according to an account published in 
the various journals of the country, and which 
appears to be entitled to credit, a railroad of sev- 
enty-six miles has recently been undertaken, be- 
tween the Ocmulgee and Flint rivers, by associ- 
ated labor, under the direction of Gen. A. H. 
Brisbane, of Georgia, at a cost, besides the labor 
of the association, of not more than $15,000, and 
with a force of only one hundred and fifty men. 
There seems reason to believe that this plan might 
be adopted to great advantage in many other 
parts of the country, and modes of communica- 
tion opened to all the advantages of the market, 
with a comparatively small expense. The travel 
on such roads may be usually at the rate of about 
ten miles an hour, and the materials for the con- 
struction and repair of these wooden tracks may 
be easily at command. 

An improvement of railroad cars has been sug- 
gested by Mr. Grant, having one wheel fast on the 
axis, and permitting the other to revolve. This 
plan, with three axles connected by a moveable 
joint, will enable the car to turn on a very short 
curve, with very little abrasion. For the track, 
the grading might be done with the scraper adopt, 
ed for making fence, described above. The track 
might be made of wood, simply by imbedding 
cross-ties every few feet, and laying timber, 
squared on two sides, only adchng on the top a 
ribbon of hard wood, 3 by 4 inches. Horse pow- 
er can be applied to great advantage, as the fric- 
tion is but little on this track, compared with or- 
dinary roads. Upon this plan, with moderately 
undulating ground, no grading need be made. — 
Places for turn-outs are made as usual ; and where 
travelers wish to stop for the night, a platfoi-m of 
smooth boards is provided. This track is made 
seven feet wide, to accommodate farmers in the 
transportation of produce. A model track may be 
seen at the Patent Office. 

FUTURE SURPLUS. 

From the foregoing remarks respecting the 
crops, &/C, it will be seen that we have already a 
vast imdisposed surplus of products above our 
home consumption, and the resources of the coim- 
try, in the soil and means of production, are al- 
most beyond limitation. Yet there is reason to 
believe that this surplus will be larger in future 
years. To specify, m brief, some of the causes 
which render this probable : 

1. Increase of population, by natural increase 
and by emigration from foreign countries. Proba- 
bly not less than one hundred tliousand emigrants 
yearly leave the shores of Europe, who find their 
way into the United States. It is true that some 
of the poorest of these, who have no means of 
paying the expense of travel into the interior, 
have been forced, for want of occupation, to re- 
turn ; but by far the greater number continue in 
this country. Even during the winter months 
many are arriving, by the way of New Orleans, 
which port affords peculiar facilities, while the 
more northern routes to the west, by the canals and 
lakes, are closed. Thus, in a late paper, we find 
the following notice : " There arrived at St. Louis, 
on the 8th and 9th inst., 1,417 passengers, princi- 
pally English and German." Recent mention 
has likewise been made of a large projected emi- 
gration from England and Ireland, and from parts 



of Germany, which may lead us to anticipate a 
very considerable increase to the usual annual 
number. 

2. The introduction of labor-saving machines 
for sowing, reaping, threshing, &c. The in- 
crease fronr this cause is large, and may be ex- 
pected to become yet more so. It has been 
estimated that Great Britain employs steam 
alone for the purpose of effecting what formerly 
depended on other power equal to 500,000,000 
men, which is as many as one-half of the popu- 
lation of the whole globe. 

3. The facilities foe enclosing the prairies at a 
moderate expense, and of constructing cottages 
at a much less expense. Multitudes will thus, 
no doubt, be called out into action, and millions 
of acres of land be brought under tillage, and, 
rich as they are in soil and ease of cultivation, 
the increase of the annual crop will be very large. 
Where the laborer can be comfortabl}' lodged and 
sheltered, his effective strength is put forth with 
more vigor, and the inducements to employ his 
energies are far greater. 

4. The encouragement to fell the forest, and 
clear up lands by converting the growth into pot 
and pearl-ashes, as well as to raise corn, &c, for 
the purposes of manufacturing sugar, the prepara- 
tion of pork, lard, &e, for the market. 

5. The withdrawal of laborers from public works 
which have been stayed in their progress by the in- 
debtedness of the States, and the failure of those 
engaged in prosecuting them. If the plan of rail, 
roads by associated labor, above mentioned, shall 
be found to answer the purpose, this cause may 
not, perhaps, exercise so great an influence in 
lessening the quantity, of products raised. 

6. The poor encouragement in trade, and the 
appalling number of failures among men of busi. 
ness in the commercial cities, Slc, will doubtless 
throw out a vast number of consumers of various 
descriptions into the class of laborers and pro- 
ducers of agricultural products. 

These principal causes, together with others of 
j less influence whicli might be added, will proba. 
bly contribute to increase the number of tillers of 
the soil, while every additional laborer from a con. 
sumcr becomes likewise a producer to no small 
amount. 

COMPARISON OF EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 

While the present surplus of agricultural pro- 
ducts, with the prospect of their increase, brings 
such discouragement, unless some market can be 
opened beyond the present demand, it is pleasant 
to discover the means of relief by a diversion of 
labor in producing articles which we annually 
import to the amount of $45,238,214. The fol- 
lowing items are taken from the imports for the 
average year, so called, of 1838, and exiiibit a 
variety of products of various branches of busi- 
ness, in the raising and making of which the 
people of this comitry might engage with advan- 
tage. Maiiy others, indeed, might be enumerated, 
by which a saving could be secured of millions of 
dollars in the United States. Enough, however, 
is here given to show where some alleviation lies. 
It is gratifying, also, to observe that, by the last 
Report of tlie Secretary of the Treasury, the ex- 
ports from the United States, for the year ending 
30th September, 1842, have exceeded our imports 



28 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



nearly $5,000,000, notv/ithstanding the great 
decrease of business, and the very low price of 
cotton — the principal staple of Ibreign export. 
In 1839, our imports exceeded our exports by 
more than $41,000,000 ; the next year, (1840,) 
tlie exports exceeded the imports by $24,001,000 ; 



but, taking the four years (1839, 1840, 1841, 1842) 
together, the unports have exceeded the exports by 
$18,000,000, or an average of $4,500,000 a year, 
tlie whole of which excess, and much more, might 
be removed Ijy supplymg ourselves with the follow, 
ing articles : 



Value of certain articles imported in 1838. 



Articles. 



Silk, manufactures of. 
Silk, sewing 



Silk and worsted goods 

Cotton manufactures 

Hemp, unmanufactured 

Ticklenburgs, osnaburgs and burlaps. 

Sheetings, brown and white 

Sail duck • 

Manufactures not specified 

Cotton bagging 

Cordage, tarred, and cables 

Cordage, untarred, and yam 

Twine and packthread 



Iron and steel, manufactures of 

Iron castings, vessels and other....... 

Nails, spikes, burred iron, sheet, &c . 
Bar iron 



Copper, brass, tin, pewter, and lead, manufactures of. 

Wood, manufactures of. 

Leather, manufactures of 

Glass ware, not specified 

Demijohns, bottles, and phials 

Window glass 



Clothing, ready-made 

Raw silk 

Brushes of all kinds 

Paper hangings 

Indigo 

Woollens, flannels, baizes, and carpetings 

Wines 

Oil, olive, linseed, hemp seed, and rape seed... 

Sugar 

Cigars, snuff and other manufactured tobacco . 
Salt 



Coal 

Steel 

Rags 

Copper, in bars, &c — 
Copper sheathing, &.c . 



Wool, under 8 cents i)er pound . 
Wool, over 8 cents per lb 



Amount, 



),454,160 
358,178 



512,506 
362,725 
325,345 
683,070 

47,292 
173,325 

75,142 
9,917 

88,338 



3,069,507 

69,698 

801,666 

2,991,317 



310,726 

165,047 

55,227 



838,916 
551,781 



445,488 
87,493 



Total. 



§9,812,338 
1,522,272 
6,599,330 



2,277,660 



6,932,188 
355,491 
199,514 

594,648 



531,000 

225,732 

29,938 

27,039 

39,988 

363,406 

475,332 

2,318,282 
286,835 

7,586,825 
846,937 

1,028,418 
308,591 
487,334 
465,448 



1,390,697 
532,971 



$45,238,214 



Such being the case with us, it seems very de- 
sirable to bscertain what is the prospect of a for. 
eign market ; and this must lead us into an exam- 
ination of the feasibility of shipping our products, 
60 as to enable the agriculturist to obtain what 
may be deemed a reasonable compensation for 
his labor. This subject divides itself into two 
questions : 



1. What markets are or may be expected to 
become open to our produce, or who will take 
our products if we will furnish them ? 

2. What is our prospect of success in the com- 
petition with other producers in the same market ? 

M.\RKErS XT nOJIE OR .iBKO.VD. 

The question how shall our surplus products be 



Improvements iti Agriculture and the Arts. 



29 



disposed of, is one of deep interest to the people 
of tliis whole country. A home market, it must 
be admitted, is the most sure and important. — 
Still even a revival or extension of manufactures 
(it may be for many years to come) probably 
might not create a demand equal to the loss of 
consumption of many articles of agricultural ex- 
port, hitherto purchased from the Nortii and West, 
required by the Southern States, By the census 
of 1840, it appears that, in 1839, there were 791,- 
749 persons engaged in manufactures. This 
number, however, is small, compared with the 
number of those who were consmners in the 
South, when it was thought more profitable to 
buy breadstuffs than to raise them, and who are 
thus withdrawn from the population on whom 
the great agricultural districts depend for a mai'- 
ket. The case is now changed. The low price 
of cotton compels the planter to raise all he can 
for the support of his hands. This, it is thought, 
will be continued, though he may hold on to cot- 
ton as the best article for export. Mississippi is 
u striking instance of the truth of this remark. 
In 1836, that State was supposed to have pur- 
chased from the Northwestern States $2,000,000 
wortli of produce, and is now raising wheat and 
com most successfully on the uplands, especially 
tliose contiguous to Tennessee, where both flour- 
ish so well ; and it is stated, on high authority, 
that soon there will not be nceeded more than 
)$200,000 worth firom out of the State. The sur- 
plus produce throughout the whole country is 
perhaps not so much occasioned by the suspen- 
sion of the manufactures as by diversion of labor 
from cotton to the raismg of articles of consump- 
tion rather than of exportation. Necessity, with 
her iron grasp, is pinching still closer and closer, 
and a return even to domestic and household 
manufactures will, it is believed, to some extent 
take place. Things are cheap or dear relatively. 
As the value of money increases, prices fall. If 
extravagance and idleness have spoiled many of 
the rising generation, then that necessity which 
commands will check the evil. There is, how- 
ever, nothing discouraging in all this. Our coun- 
try is fertile, our real wants will be abundantly 
supplied, while health and happiness will follow 
laborious occupations. Thousands driven from 
other countries by a sheer want of food will con- 
stantly press hither for a better home. Opera- 
tions to accumulate wealth will be more rare, 
while moderate competency will crown its pos- 
sessors with higher blessings than riches can be- 
stow. 

The present state of the world deserves consid- 
eration. It is a time of general peace between 
the gi'cat European Powers, and the last year's 
crops every where, excejjt in France and part of 
Spain, have been so large that the demand for our 
surplus products is small. And while the home 
demand is so inadequate we must create a domes- 
tic market to a much greater extent, or seek a 
foreign one with all its fluctuations, and consent 
to such reduction of wages as will enable us to 
compete with pauper labor abroad. A reduction 
to meet the emergency will not fall alone on tlie 
laborer. Food constitutes his greatest expense, 
and this he must and will have. On the proprie- 
tor, then, tlie loss will be more serious and abiding. 



PROSPECT OF A FOREIGN MARKET. 

Let us, then, look at the prospect of finding a 
foreign market for om- surplus. In the consideration 
of this subject, we may inquire what market may 
be found to consume our exports ? It is true the 
present is a remarkable period. With the Euro- 
pean world at peace, little diversion there from 
agriculture can be expected. The crops of Eng- 
land, Hollaird, Ireland, and most of the grain- 
growing countries on the continent, are large. — 
But such a state of things may possibly not soon 
again occur ; either war may rage, and occasion 
a demand for supplies, or a practical failure of 
the crops may create a scarcity. If we examine 
this question of a foreign market somewhat more 
closely, we may, perhaps, discover encourage- 
ment. England cannot much longer depend on 
her own supply, even with good crops. The 
truth of tliis assertion may be easily shown. — 
Professor Johnstone, in his recent work on agri- 
cultural chemistry, thus alludes to the condition 
of England in this point of view : 

" The superficial area of Great Britain com- 
prises about fifty-seven millions of acres, of which 
thirty-four millions are in cultivation, about 
thirteen millions are incapable of culture, and 
the remauring ten millions are waste land, sus- 
ceptible of improvement. The present popida- 
tion, therefore, is supported by the produce of 
thirty-four millions of acres ; or every thirty-four 
acres raise food for about twenty people. Sup- 
pose the ten millions of acres which are suscepti- 
ble of improvement to be brought into such a 
state of culture as to maintain an equal propor- 
tion — the most favorable supposition — they would 
raise food for an additional i)opulation of about 
six millions, or would keep Great Britain, inde- 
pendent of any large and constant foreign sup- 
ply, till the number of inhabitants amounted to 
twenty-six millions. But, at the present rate of 
increase, this will take place in about twenty 
years ; so that, by 1860, unless some general im- 
provement take place in the coiuitry, the demands 
of the population will have completely overtaken 
the productive powers of the land." 

How vastly different, in this respect, is our own 
country. We have breadstuffs already above our 
own consumption enough to feed many millions. 
And we differ also from England in this respect : 
that our imoccupicd lands are in a much greater 
proportion susceptible of cultivation. When the 
vacant land in the United States is improved, even 
to the extent of the present ' culture, we shall be 
able to sustain three hundred millions of popular 
tion. Even the thirty-nine million acres of prairie 
lieretofore mentioned, allowing twenty bushels of 
wheat to an acre, would produce seven hmidred 
and eighty millions of bushels, which would be six 
and a half times more than the whole wheat crop 
by estimate for 1842. 

Shipments of some articles to England by direct 
trade, even mider the present British tariff, may 
be made with advantage. Soon, however, it is 
believed that exports will go through the Canadas 
at a still lower tariff. As this subject is one of 
deep interest to the United States, much attention 
has been devoted to it in connection with these 
remarks. The following table exhibits the present 
(Sir Robert Peel's) tariff of articles from the colo. 
J nies and from the United States direct : 



30 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



British Tariff. 



Of or from British possessions. 



Foreign produce. 



Articles. 



Bacon, per cwt 

Beef salted, not being corned beef, 

per cwt 

Tongues, per cwt 

Butter, per cwt 

Cheese, per cwt 

Eggs, per 120 

Ham of all kinds, per cwt 

Lard, per cwt 

Pork salted, not ham, per cwt 

Cranberries, per gallon 

Pot or Pearl ashes 

Oil seed cakes, per ton 

Linseed, per cwt 

Rapeseed, per cwt 

Beeswax, per cwt 

Stearin Candles 

Tallow, per cwt 

Castor oil 



s.d. 
3 6 



about 



ct. m. 
I per pound 



2 about 4 per pound 



2 6 about 

5 about 

2 6 about 

2^ not quite 

3 6 nearly 
6 not 

2 about 



i per pound 
1 per pound 
i per {Kjund 
1 for 2 dozen 
I per pound 
1 per pound 
4 per pound 



Free. 



2 or 



44 



3 2 
1 3 



nearly 



I per poimd 
i per pound 



14 



d. ct. m. 

about 2 per pound 

about i per poimd 

about 2 per pound 

nearly 4 per pound 

6 little over 2 per pound 

10 about 2 J per dozen 

about 2| per pound 

about 4 per poimd 

about . 2| per pound 

1 about 15 per bushel 
6 when for home cons'n. 

or 22 cents. 

1 or IJ cents. 
1 or 1| cents. 
or 22 cents. 

2^ or about 4 cents, 

"3 or about 5^ cents. 



Wheat, of foreign production, according to the sliding sale, reduced to federal money. 
Price per bushel. Duty per bushel. 

Under $1 53 60 cents. 

$1 53 and under $1 56 57 cents. 



1 56 and under 
1 65 and under 
1 68 and under 
1 71 and under 
1 74 and imder 
1 77 and under 
1 80 and imder 
1 83 and imder 
1 86 and under 
1 89 and under 
1 92 and under 
1 95 and under 

1 98 and under 

2 07 and under 
2 10 and under 
2 13 and under 
2 16 and under 



1 65 54 cents. 

1 68 51 cents. 

1 71 48 cents. 

1 74 45 cents. 

1 77 42 cents. 

1 80 39 cents. 

1 83 ; 36 cents. 

1 86 33 cents. 



1 89 



.30 cents. 



1 92 27 cents. 

1 95 24 cents. 

1 98 ; 21 cents. 

2 07 18 cents. 

2 10 15 cents. 

2 13 12 cents. 

2 16 9 cents. 

2 19 .^ 6 cents. 

2 19 and over Scents. 

Wheat meal, and flour, for every barrel of 196 pounds, a duty equal to that on 38^ gallons of 
wheat. 



Wheat, ^c,from British possessions, ^c. 



Articles. 



Price per bushel. 



Duty per bushel. 



Under $1 51 



Wheat 



Barley 



Foreign 



Oats. 



Foreign , 



Rye, peas, and beans 



From 
From 
From 
From 
Under 

Under 
About 
Under 

Under 

Under 



1 51 
1 54 
1 57 



to $1 54... 
to 1 51... 
to 1 59| . 



Nearly 15 
10 



59| and upwards 

77 

87 and upweirds 

71i 

02 and upwards 

65i 

63| and upwards 

74i and upwards 

82i 

88^ Euid upwards 



About 

About 
About 
About 



cents. 

cents. 
8 1 cents. 
5^ cents. 
3§ cents. 

7 cents. 

2 cents. 
30 cents. 

2^ cents. 

5 cents. 

li cents. 

22 cents. 

3 cents. 

8 cents, 
li cents. 



Wheat meal, and flour, for every barrel of 196 pounds, a duty to that on 38^ gallons of wheat. 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



31 



From high authority we leam that " Canadian 
wheat has been subject to a duty from England, 
varying from 6d. per quarter up to 5s., and flour 
in proportion ; and, although the shipper of wheat 
has been compelled to furnish a certificate of its 
colonial origin, tlic flour ground from American 
wheat has gone from Canada, as colonial, at the 
low rate of duty ; and hence the large trade which 
has of late years sprung up between Canada and 
the Western States, with so much advantage to 
both, but particularly the latter. The colonists 
have been incessantly urging the demand on the 
mother country for free admission of their bread- 
stuffs, but have been denied this boon on the 
ground that such an arrangement would enable 
Americans to send in their grain free from all 
duty; but they have been led to beUeve that, in 
case they impose a duty on American wheat, 
theirs will thus be admitted into England duty 
free. Accordingly, last session of the Canadian 
Parliament, a duty of 3s. sterling per imperial 
quarter, or 4id. sterling per imperial bushel, was 
imposed by the Canadian Parliament ; which act 
was reserved for the assent of the Imperial Go- 
vernment, it being understood that, unless the 
latter admit Canadian grain free of duty, the act 
will not take effect." " The Canadian millers 
and merchants have advocated the free admission 
of American products, while the agriculturists, 
who return a large majority of the representatives 
in Parliament, have protested against it." 

If the new law enacted by the Canadian Go- 
vernment goes into operation, as is expected m 
July next, the following will be the duties charged 
on American produce landed at Liverpool in Bri- 
tish vessels : " With regard to provisions, a duty 
of 3s. per cwt. has been imposed on salted meat, 
8s. on butter, 5s. on cheese, and 2s. per barrel on 
flour, by an act of the Parliament, to take effect 
next July. The Provincial Parliament will, pro- 
bably, impose duties on fresh meat, on cattle, and 
all sorts of grain. These duties, however, will 
be small." 

According to a statement of duties payable on 
articles of produce of the United States into the 
Canadas, the following articles pay an additional 
duty of 5 per cent., imposed by the Provincial 
States, besides the duty laid by Sir Robert Peel's 
tariff" : pot or pearl ashes, flax, hemp, hams, ba- 
con, hay, hides, and meal. Among the articles 
at present admitted into the Canadas free are 
beef, Indian corn, grain of all kinds, flour, and 
pork. Lard is subject to a provincial duty of 15 
per cent, ad valorem ; Molasses Id. sterling per 
gallon, and 4s. 6d. per cwt.; sirups Id. sterling 
per gallon, and Is. 6d. per cwt. These duties 
are all paid in sterling money, at the rate of 
4s. 4d. the dollar, equal to 5s. Id. Canada curren- 
cy, or nearly 102 cents. The imperial duties are 
levied on the amount of the invoice cost in the 
United States, and adding thereto 10 per cent. 
For instance, should the amount of the invoice 
be jClOO, the duty is charged on £110. The pro- 
vincial duties arc charged on the amount of in- 
voice without the additional 10 per cent. As 
these subjects are of much importance to those 
who can avail themselves of any opening for 
their produce into the Canadas, the provincial 
tariff" now in force, as published by a firm in St. 
John's, for the information of those with whom 



they trade, and also a letter from William IMa- 
crae, collector at St. John's, to the collector of 
Burlington, Vermont, describing the change pro- 
posed in the provincial regulations, &c, are ad- 
ded. They may be found in the Document, 
(Nos. 16 and 17.) 

This new channel of trade will, doubtless, make 
quite a diversion from the canals leading to our 
seaports, but from these seaports there will be 
better markets from the Middle and Southern 
States. Some judgement may be formed as to 
this trade from the fact that there were trans- 
ported, through the^ Welland canal, from the 
United States, to Canadian ports — 



Articles 



Flour 

Beef and pork 

Wheat 

Com 



In 1840. 



In 1841. 



186,864 bbls. I 193,137 bbls. 

14,389 bbls. | 24,195 bbls. 

1,720,659 bus. I 1,212,458 bus. 

27,085 bus. I 90,158 bus. 



The amount of products, for the past year, ex- 
ported to Canada from Cleveland, is estimated at 
,11,016,796. 

The following are some of the articles men- 
tioned ; 



Articles. 


Quantity. 


Value, 


Wheat 


380,684 bush. 
94,248 bbls. 
59,670 bush. 
1,475 doz. 
1,348 bbls. 
178 bbls. 
44,750 bbls. 
11 lbs. 
2,200 bush. 
107 bbls. 
72,106 lbs. 
92,000 

1,453 bush. 
23,163 lbs. 
6,000 lbs. 
1,595 lbs. 


$319,177 




382,729 




19,393 


Brooms 

Beef 


1,721 
8,667 




1,656 


Pork 


260,049 


Clover seed... 
Oats 


132 
500 


Tallow 


1,480 


Hams 


3,625 




2,355 


Rye 


726 


Cheese 

Broomcorn.... 
Butter 


1,015 
300 
122 



From the above it will be seen that there must 
be an increase in this colonial trade from year to 
year. 

The inquiry may arise. Will England accede 
to the request of the Canadian Parliament, who 
ask that produce shipped from these provinces, 
having paid a certain duty, may be admitted into 
England without duty ? From the best opinion 
that can be formed from our Canadian correspond- 
ence, there can be httle doubt that the experi- 
ment will go into operation. The reasons which 
lead to this conclusion are the following : In this 
trade England benefits her colonies by the duty. 
She can thus supply her poor at home, without 
any further modification of her corn laws, and she 
can secure to her own commerce the carrying 
trade, and also the grinding of large quantities of 
wheat in Canada. These are weighty motives. 
She also has a desire to increase, as she may thus 
do, the trade with her best customer, the United 
States ; and this will aid in the accomplishment 
of such a plan. It may be asked here what eff'ect 
this new trade will have. To determine this 
point, the following statement is presented of the 



32 



Improvements in griculture and the Arts. 



price in England of some of the leading articles, 
to authorise the trade. The cost of shipment 
charges and the result will show the value of the 
goods at tlie port of the shipment from the Unit- 
ed States. Tlic widening of the Welland canal, 
which connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and 
the late experiment of a ship channel round the 
rapids of the St. Lawrence, open a direct commu- 
nication from Sandusky, on Lake Eric, with Liv- 
erpool : hence freights will probably be very low. 
It may be remarked here, in passing, that the in. 
spection laws of the State of New- York are said 
to be so greatly at variance with the mode in 
which provisions must be packed for the English 
market, that, unless some alteration takes place, 
this circumstance will prove injurious to our trade 
in this respect. 

The mode in which provisions should be pre- 
pared for the English market is subjoined in Doc- 
ument No. 18, from a description published for 
the benefit of those who are engaged in this busi- 
ness. 

As shipments will also be made to other parts 
of Europe besides England, the freight to Liver- 
pool or Havre, from New- York and New Orleans, 
or Boston, are also included in the following 
table : — 

Price of articles in England : Lard, 38?. to 43s. 
per cwt.; = to $8 36 to ,^9 36. 

Cost of shipment or freight from Cleveland to 
Montreal, 47A cents per hundred. 

Cost from Montreal to Liverpool, about 70 cents 
per hundred. 

Cost to New Orleans from Cincinnati, 75 to 87 
cents per barrel. 

From New Orleans to New- York, 75 cents per 
barrel. 

From Cleveland to New-York, 55 cents per 
hundred pounds. 

From New- York to Liverpool, 33 cents per 
hundred pounds. 

From Cleveland to Boston, 60 cents per hun- 
dred pounds. 

From Boston to Liverpool, 38^ cents per bun- 
dled. 

From New Orleans to Liverpool, 50 cents per 
hundred pounds. 

It may be interesting to ascertain also the ad- 
vantage of shipping a leading article on which 
the colonial duty is nominal, by the Erie canal and 
New- York, or by the Welland canal and Mon- 
treal, viz : — 
Freight per 112 pounds on lard from 

Cleveland to Montreal 50 

Montreal to Liverpool 70 

Colonial duty on importation in Canada 

15 per cent, ad valorem 00 

Duty on this colonial produce in Eng- 
land 11 



&2 21 



From Cleveland to New- York 

New- York to Liverpool 

Duty on foreign produce by Sir Robert 
Peel's tarilF. 



Being 89 cents in favor of the New- 
York route $1 32 



The question may be asked, What will wheat 
be worth, in the Western States, to manufacture 
flour for the British market, if the same is admit- 
ted via. Canada at 3s. per quarter, equal to 41 
cents per barrel ? Wheat, at Lafayette, Indiana, 
which must be transported by canal to Lake Erie, 
230 miles, is taken as an instance. 
The price in England is now 27s., equal 

to ; $5 94 



Cost of wheat, for a barrel 4| bushels, 
at 50 cents 

Barrel and manufacturing with oiFal.... 

Freight to Lake Erie 

From Lake Erie to Montreal 

From Montreal to Liverpool 

Duty at Liverpool, if ground in the 
Canadas 



The exchange on England is worth 7 
per cent., say 

The whole surplus is allowed for con- 
tingencies and commissions 



37 

50 
62i 

85 
80 

44 



$5 58i 



40 



36 



76 



It may not be unacceptable to the producer to 
leani the value of his commodity in the market of 
exportation. 

A New Orleans price current of January 7th, 
1843, quotes lard at b\ cents, and hams at 7 
cents. The question arises. What is pork worth 
to the farmer on the western waters, where the 
shipment to New Orleans is estimated at 75 cents 
per barrel ? 

A fat hog, weighuig 300 pounds, will furnish two 
hams weighing, together, about 42 pounds, leav- 
ing 258 pounds of pork. If this is reduced to 
lard by the most expeditious and profitable man- 
ner, viz : by steaming, we may expect about 60 
per cent, of lard, equal to 154 80 pounds, which, 

at 6^ cents, amounts to $10 67 

Add 42 pounds of ham, at 7 

cents $2 94 

Deduct shrinking and curing 94 

2 00 



Deduct keg or barrel.. 

Also freight to New Orleans 

Commissions and contuigencies. 



67 
75 



12 67 



2 17 

$10 50 



This gives $3 50 per hundred for the hog as 
dressed. 

Lard if shipped to Liverpool, will afford a 
greater profit, as will appear by reference to the 
table of cost of shipment to Liverpool from New 
Orleans, above given. 

As such a comparison may be of use to some, a 
pro forma bill of lard or tallow shipped from New- 
York to Havre, covering the whole cost and 
charges reduced to federal money, is added, by 
which it will be seen that tliis eu-ticlc will bear 
transportation. 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



33 



Sale of 100 casks of tallow at Havre. 



Articles ^c. 



100 casks, weighing, gross kilog's 40,625 

Tare 4,875 



Total kilogrammes. 

Charges. 



Insurance on $7,218 75 at 1 per cent. 
Brokerage 



.35,750 



Freight on 59,580pounds, at i per cent . 
Primage, at 5 per cent 



Share in the unloading expenses 

Duty on gross pounds, $91,406 93 j for 

112 pounds, $761 72; 10th and stamps, 

$76 22; (discount 1^ per cent.) 

Cartage and warehouse, receiving and delivering . 

Sampling, coopering, and taring 

Brokerage, at \ per cent 

Warehouse rent, at 50 cents per cask per 

month, and fire insurance 

Postage and petty charges 

Guaranty , 



Amount. 



Lbs. 

91,406 

10,968J 



80,437i 
at 10. 45c. 
per lb 



$72 18} 
7 45i 

447 90 
22 40 



Total. 



Dolls. Cts, 



$79 64 



470 80 
9 37i 



827 79i 
32 81i 
18 75 
21 12. 

17 82 

5 81 

42 23 



Aggregat 



Dolls. Cts, 



8,333 S7i 



1,515 65i 



6,807 72 



While England will no doubt receive most of 
our importations, (should the price of freight and 
duties permit,) as France and Spain are reported 
to have short crops, and consume some of our ai'- 
ticles of export, tiiey may afford us a fair field of 
operation. 

SUCCESS OF COMPETITION. 

Another question is also one of deep interest to us. 
Were England to open her ports to us, or so to 
modify her tariff that our surplus produce might 
be shipped to her ports, could we compete with 
other and nearer producers ? The fear has been 
often expressed, that were the ports of England 
open, markets nearer the United States, on the 
continent, would compete with us successfully. — 
Such would naturally be the conclusion, (when 
we reflect that steamers sail in two days from 
Hamburg to London,) had not a very minute ex- 
amination been made, by direction of high au- 
thority, into the ability of the continent, &c, to 
supply Great Britain with breadstuffs. 

The subject of her futm'c supply has long been 
one of deep mterest to that coimtry, as bear- 
ing so directly on her corn laws; and extensive 
investigations have been ordered, and much in- 
formation obtained. Lord Palmerston, in June, 
1840, addressed a number of queries to Her Ma- 
jesty's consuls at St. Petersburg, Riga, Liebau, 
Warsaw, Odessa, Dantzic, Stockholm, Konigs- 
burg, Stetin, Memel, Elsinore, Hamburg, Rot- 
terdam, Antwerp, and Palermo, embracing the 



points connected with all the grain growing coun- 
tries of Europe ; and written answers were requi- 
red as to the quantity of grain which should be 
exported if the com trade were open at a moder- 
ate duty ; the average prices ; the freight, &c. — 
In answer to these inquiries, a minute detail of 
facts shows that little reliance can be placed on 
tlie continent for a supply. The soil contiguous 
to the seaports has already been extensively tilled, 
and cannot be pushed further without the aid of 
artificial manures, while the bad roads from the 
interior shut tbem out from a competition witlx 
us. 

Thus in Russia : The corn districts are too re- 
mote from the seaports for the grain to be ready, 
in season, for export'-ation ; the rapid increase of 
manufactures has withdrawn firom tillage, &c. 

In Poland there is a c^eficiency of manure, and 
scarcity of hands, and Want of skill in cultiva- 
tion. 

From Odessa, the report is that the crops are 
precarious, on account of d/Dught ; tillage is de- 
fective, and improvement difficult; distances 
great; no roads; the rivers unnavigable; the 
landholders impoverished, and no improvem«nta 
to be expected. 

The following is the result, imfoodicd in a table 
by Mr. Curtis, who has lectured on the com laws 
in England, and which is taken, in part, from 
Mr. Leavitt's memorial, pubUshed for the use of 
the Senate, by an a«;t of July 1, 1842— a docu- 
ment containing much valuable information. 



S4 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



Ansioers from 



St. Petersburg 

Riga 

Liebau 

Odessa 

Warsaw 

Stockholm . . . 



'o'-ai tic 






Quarters, s. d. 



Average price 
of wheat, 



s. d. 



Dantzic 

Konigsburg . . 

Stettin 

Memel 



Elsinore . . . 
Hamburg'.. 
Rotterdam 
Antwerp ... 
Palermo ... 



Total. 



192,500,39 1 
I49 7 

"30,'6oo'43 7 

150,000 26 6 

300,000 36 

1,000.30 

315,000'40 

65,000 '40 

250,000 40 

5,964 35 



175,0 00 
538,000 



200,000 



2,222,464 



Gen'l average 40g 6d 



30 
35 

55 

56 5 
38 



to 
to 
to 
to 
to 

to 35 

to 

to 45 

to 

to 

to 36 

to 46 

to 

to 

to 



Whether the 'quantity produced 
iDould be materially increased. 



Answers. 



ONo 

ONo 

ONo 

ONo 

Toa certain extent, say 

Yes, if foreign capital were eir 
•ployed 

No 

No 

No ? 

Might be increased one-fourth if 
there were a great demand .... 

Yes 

Probably not 

To no great extent 

No 

Would increase in three or four 



Freight per 
quarter. 






«. d. s. d' Dots. cts. 



4 5 to 5 

4 9 to 

4 6 to 5 

10 to 



years. 



3 6 to 4 

3 6 to 4 

4 to 6 
4 to 5 



4 to 
3 6 to 
2 6 to 
2 to 
2 to 



8 3 to 



93i 

1 150 
1 32i 
1 00 

1 42 

99 

1 19i 
1 30i 
1 22 

1 09^ 
1 02 
1 21i 
1 57 
1 61i 

1 27 



.4s Hd.. 



1 24i 



It may also be gratiiying to some t© compai 
the transportation of flour, &c, from Poland 
(one of the greatest grain-growing districts) and 
the United States, to EngU.nd. 

From Poland to Dantzic, the grain is chiefly 
brought from the interior in flatboats of the rudest 
construction, similar to those in use on the West- 
em waters of the United States, at an expense of 
25 cents per bushel, open to the weather, &.c. 
During the voyage the wheat sprouts, and forms 
a thick mat or covering for the bulk. On reach- 
ing Dantzic, the boat is broken up and sold, the 
wheat taken out and dried in tlie fields, then 
stored in the ware-houses at an expense of 6 cents 
per bushel. From Dantzic to England the freight, 
&.C, not including the duty, is nearly 8(/. — equal 
to about 15 cents per bushel ; making in all about 
46 cents per bushel. From Illinois to Liverpool 
the whole freight would be 14s. per quarter, or Is. 
9rf. — equal to 38 cents per bushel ; being about 8 
cents in favor of Illinois. There are costs and 
charges also, in both cases, which would probably 
be in favor of our export. 

In this connexion, it may be interesting to 
compare a detailed estimate of the exports of 
wheat from Illinois to England, both by New- 
Orleans and Canada. 

Illinois wheat, via. Neio-Orlcans to Liverpool. 

Wheat, 4| bushels, at 50 cents is $2 37 

Grinding and barreling, (with offal) 50 

Freight to New-Orleans 62 

Freight to Liverpool 66 



which is a little less than 90 cents, 
would be aUke in both casee. 



4 15 
Charges 



View the matter in another point of light. Sup- 
pose we carry our grain or flour through Canada, 
and pay, after the 5th July, 3s on an imperial 
quarter, viz : 8 bushels, which is about 8^ cents 
per bushel : Foreign wheat would have to paj', 
at the present sliding rule, about 60 cents per 
bushel. Could they compete with us ? 

We therefore could succeed with the greatest 
I competitor; but that competitor cannot supply 
j IJ million of bushels, less than the sinplus of 
;l some of the smaller States of this Union produce ; 
rj and, indeed, all Europe could not supply England 
I with more than 18,000,000 bushels, under the 
most favorable circumstances — about three-foiu'ths 
as much as the State of Ohio now furnishes. 

It may be remarked, too, that the crops on the 
continent are far more precarious than those of 
tlie United States ; and hence the continental Gov- 
ernments find it necessary, and are careful to re3 
serve large granaries, to guard against such a 
misfortune as a failure of the usual harvest. Ex- 
portation theiice is also forbidden in certain cases, 
but in the LTiiited States no such prohibition exists! 
Wliilc, tlicrefore, we may look with confidence 
to advantages in our favor in the British market, 
we must remember that we have to compete 
against almost unpaid labor, and cannot expect a 
great profit on our culture imless the very cheap- 
est mode of production is studied. Labor (as we 
have before remarked) must doubtless fall very 
considerably in agricultural districts, or else far- 
mers and planters cannot hire. 

That such is the case appears from the fact, 
that already it has been announced in the papers 
of the day that a reduction is contemplated in 
Maryland and elsewhere. Nor is this fall of the 
price of labor to be much regretted, if the wants 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



85 



of the increasing population can be as well sup- 
plied by the present low wages as those of for- 
mer years by the wages tlien obtained. Food 
has usually constituted the great expense of the 
poor. The reduction of an inflated currency 
must of necessity be attended with the corres- 
ponding reduction in the price of labor and the 
value of property. The change is evidently bet- 
ter for the people in the end; and though the 
transition from the fancied prosperous days of 
speculation caused by a spurious currency may 
deeply atTect those who are indebted, a regular 
healthy trade, formed upon a currency based upon 
specie, wdl certainly be most desirable, and to 
none more so than to the yeomanry of our coim- 
try, who toil in great honesty and industry to sus- 
tam society, and depend on sage Legislatures to 
make wise and safe laws to protect their hard- 
earned gains. 

PROBABLE MODIFICATION OF THE CORN LAWS. 

A further inquiry is here suggested. The sup- 
position has been made above that England will 
materially change or even repeal hci- corn laws. 
This question has been examined, and the result 
is, that there is much to fortify the conjecture that 
such must eventually be the result. Her popula- 
tion is increasing. The uncultivated lands are 
continually becoming less in proportion. What 
is tilled is much of it carried to the highest point 
of cultivation. If she would avail herself of her 
advantages of extent of territory, and new srt;- 
quisitions as a mart of her exported manufactures, 
she cannot spare many from that branch of in- 
dustry to agriculture. The sufferings of the poor 
and the burden of her poor laws are very great. 
A steady advance has been made for some years 
towards this result. The Manchester Chamber 
of Commerce, comprising the most eminent mer- 
chants and manufacturers, after a debate of ten 
hours at two sittings, have declared, by a vote of six 
to one, that unless the corn laws are immediately 
ahiilished, the destruction of their manufactures 
is inevitable. The information the people have 
received of om' vast surplus product has m-ged 
them forward, as they see thus the means of sup- 
ply within reach. It has been ascertained by an 
eminent English baker, that the American floiu, 
either in biscuit or bread, wiU absorb from one- 
thirteenth to one-seventh more of its weight in 
water than any other flom*. It is also stated, 
that 14 lbs. American flour will make 21^ lbs. of 
bread, while the best kind of English flour will 
produce but 18^ lbs. About one crop in seven, 
in England, (some say a less number,) is a failure. 
The London Mark Lane Express estimates the 
total averange product of the United Kingdom at 
320,000,000 bushels, and that the crop of 1841 
fell sjiort at least 86,000,000 bushels. Every 
dimmution of any considerable amount must be 
supplied from abroad. The present sliding scale 
of duties prevents the American importer from 
availing liimself as much as he would do, of his 
information and sending out cargoes, even when 
the price is such as to render it profitable ; for 
before his ship reaches the port, the duty may 
rise so liigh as to make it a dead loss. In 1841, 
when the imports of wheat into England were 
21,604,840 bushels, the whole amount from the 
United States was, 2,528,600 bushels; in 1840,, 



when the whole import of wheat was 18,^02,120 
bushels, the United States sent out 6,831,000 
bushels. The yearly consumption of all kinds 
of grain in Great Britam is estimated at 52,000, 
OOU quarters, or 16,000,000 bushels, of vvhich 
wheat is about 104,000,000 bushels. This probaJ 
bly would be much increased, were bread to be 
brought down to a lower price. The quantity oi 
wheat imported into Great Britain fi-om Ireland, 
in 1832, was 552,720 quarters; in 1839, but 90,- 
600 quarters; and, owing to the temperance re- 
formation, by which the consumption of food 
will be increased, this willrf)robably be stdl more 
lessened. * 

From the English Farmers' Journal, whicli we 
quote here in substance, it appears that, on the day 
fixed for the payment of reduced duties on salted 
provisions, public sales were announced to take 
place on the Ibllowing day ; which sales com- 
prised 1,512 barrels of American beef, 2,199 bar. 
rels of American pork, 321 barrels of American 
hams, 691 barrels of Canadian pork, and 35 bar- 
rels Canadian beef. There was a numerous at- 
tendance of town and country dealers, also gen- 
tlemen from Ireland, to watch the progress of a 
trade threatening to interfere with tJieir trade so 
long exclusively enjoyed. The United States 
meat was imported months before, and cured be- 
fore it was known that there would be a change in 
duties, and therefore not so well suited to the taste 
of consmners as it may hereafter be. The meat 
was well fed, but fatter than the usual Irish. The 
beef was not so well fed. The hams sold at 30s. 
6d. to 31 per cent., duty paid, equal to about 6 
cents per pound ; prime beef sold at 38s. to 39s. 
per barrel, duty paid — about 4^ cents per pound ; 
pork went at froni 41s. to 46s. per barrel, duty 
paid — equal to 7^ cents per pound ; theC^anadian 
pork reahzed 43s. to 46s. per barrel, duty paid, 
(fcc. From the most recent account, it would 
appear that American provisions are in some de- 
mand; and if our countrymen will adopt the 
English methods of curing and packing, so as to 
suit the taste of the foreign purchaser of their 
articles of export, there seems little reason to 
doulit that a considerable trade migiit be carried 
on. Much complaint is made of the mode of 
preparation, and hence atteiitiontothisisfhemore 
necessary to compete witli the Irish producers. — 
The quantity of oiu flour exports, it is said, de- 
pends greatly on the price m the home market. 
Thus it is said that in 18.34, a year of abundance 
in England, when the price of flour was ,^5 45, 
there were exported 835,352 barrels, nearly as 
much as in 1839, in which there was a short crop 
in England ; and when fiour was $7 56 in our 
market, when the export amounted to 1,897,501 
barrels of flour, at $5 37. On examination, also, 
it appears that for twelve years, from 1829 to 1840, 
more than one-half the whole imports paid an 
average duty of about six cents per bushel. Tak- 
ing twelve years together, from 1828 to 1839, it 
appears that Great Britain has raised sufficient 
for her own supply only foiu- years out of twelve ; 
in two out of three she has found it necessary to 
import, varying from 2^ to 20 per cent, of her 
whole consumption. A considerable portion of 
land better fitted for grazing has been Ibrced into 
cultivation for wheat by the high prices it has 
commanded there. 



36 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



SCO 



.''c.i 



^ 


<s- 






•i 


fen 


5* 


S 


far 


^ 


,!= 


t: 



m 



m^ 



m 



m 



91^ 



m 



o s 



m 



3 » 



^ 






€l& 






m 



•rj< CO 



IB -« 



m 



W 



Thus it appears, that out of the whole seven, 
the highest price was in a winter month, except 
two j-ears, when it was in August and September ; 
also, that the lowest price, for five years, was in a 
i winter month — in the other two years in the month 
immediately preceding a winter one. It also ap- 
pears that the average has been almost constant- 
ly rising, except for the year 1840. The price of 
flour, it is said from Dantzic, delivered at Lon- 
don, could not be less than !^7 per barrel, without 
duty. Such are the facts with respect to Eng. 
land, and her dependence on other countries for 
her breadstuff's. 

The case is similar in France. When the crop, 
which at an ordinary rate will just about supplj' 
her population, fails, great distress ensues, and of 
necessity they must look abroad for a supply. 

Since, then, we must either have a home or a 
foreign market for our surplus, we are driven to 
the necessity of so far upholding our own manu- 
factures, and creating a greatly increased con- 
sumption, or we must seek to extend our foreign 
market. The discriminating duties, imposed by 
Great Britain in favor of the intercolonial trade in 
her own vessels, will continue to operate against 
the best competitors in foreign markets with our 
agricultural products, till the United States her- 
self makes a new conventional arrangement 
based on terms of fuller rccipiocity. In the mean 
time, however, it is a matter of no small gratifica- 
tion that an outlet can be had through the British 
American provinces for several articles. Indeed, 
so strong is the desii'c manifested by the commis- 
sioners in the mother couutry, that the laws are 
construed in the most liberal manner. Thus, 
while the south has long enjoyed the privilege of 
sending out her prmcipal staple duty free, in con- 
sequence of the desire of the British manufacturers 
to obtain it, so now it seems probable that the 
other agriculturists of our country in the north 
and west, may be enabled to forward their wheat 
and other produce through the colonies at a com- 
paratively low rate of duty. 

From many countries we are nationally exclud- 
ed by prohibitory duties. Spain, for instance, le- 
vies $10 on a ban-el of flour in Cuba. From 
Malaga, where our imports exceed our exports 
seven times, we are almost shut out. The list 
might be extended, but it is unnecessary. Could 
more reciprocal duties be established, a new and 
lasting hnpulse would be given to the agricultu- 
ral industry of the United States. The advocates 
of home industry and free trade unite in the pro- 
priety of fair reciprocal arrangements, if conven- 
tional treaties are formed. Many, with long de- 
layed hopes, are almost ready to despair; some 
fear an abandoraent of present encouragement as 
incidentally given to home industry by the 
revenue system. While aiming to avoid the dis. 
cussion of any political topics, or the protective 
tariff", yet it seems not entirely proper to wdthhold 
any consoling remark which saves the downcast 
agriculturist from absolute despondency. Reason 
and philosopy may enable him to endure the pre- 
sent, if sure no worse is to be dreaded. 

The following cheering voice is heai'd from the 
south side of the Potomac. After expressing a 
preference for free trade, if it were practicable, it 
is said ; " But we shall regard it as the hight of 
folly to throw open oui" ports without restriction to 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



37 



other nations, so long as theirs are shut in our 
faces, and they continue to act upon a wholly op- 
posite pohcy. The practical statesman, under 
such curcumstances, must lay his abstract philo- 
sophy on the shelf, and work out his problems 
upon the actual theatre of human affairs. To 
buy in the cheapest market is a very plausible 
doctrine, but to him who is forced to sell in the 
cheapest market in order to reach it, the delusion 
is at once manifest. The great problem is, what 
constitutes, midcr all circumstances of selling as 
well as buying, in time to come as well as in time 
present, the most advantageous market to the con- 
sumer." 

The halcyon days of free trade, predicted by 
some, ought not to change efforts made with refer- 
ence to the commercial policy of the world. Some 
new difficidties must be met, and some changes 
made, to accommodate om'selves to existing cir- 
cumstances. The reduction of the currency and 
the scarcity of money will, of necessity, reduce 
waces. Self-denial will take the place of self- 
gratification, and all possible economy will be 
studied. Proprietors of land and other produc- 
tive property will rent on shares in preference to 
hiring for cash. All possible diversions of labor, 
too, wUl be made from pursuits which will pro- 
duce a surplus which cannot find a market ; and, 
whatever may be the abstract theories of burdens 
on the producer or the consumer, or what degree 
of protsection amounts to proJiibition, we may ex- 
pect, ere long an improved domestic market. A 
demand abroad of a few hundred thousand bush- 
els of breadstuffs is heralded as a happy event, 
but what comparison, after all, will it bear to the 
million of consumers created by the diversion of 
labor from present agricultural pursuits, or }nanu- 
lactm'ing those articles which are more to us than 
the produce of foreign labor. Let us listen to the 
wisdom of those wliose opinions are recorded for 
our encouragement — more especially since such 
opinions come from individuals who do not sanc- 
tion protection, except such as incidentally arises 
from the raising of a revenue : — 

" To be independent for the comforts of 
life, we must fabricate them ourselves. We 
must now place the manufacturer by the side of 
tlie agriculturist. The grand inquiry now is, 
shall we make our own comforts, or go without 
them at the will of a foreign nation ? He, there- 
fore, who is now against domestic manufacture 
must be for reducing us either to dependence on 
that foreign nation, or to be clothed in skins and 
to live like wild beasts in dens and caverns. I 
am not one of those ; experience has taught me 
that manufacturers are nov/ as necessary to our in- 
dependence as to oiu comfort." — Letter of T. 
Jefferson to Benjamin Austin, January, V6'26. 

"When oiu" manufactures are grown to a cer- 
tain perfection, as they soon will be, under the 
fostering care of government, the farmer will find 
a ready market for his siu^plus produce, and, what 
is of equal consequence, a certain and cheeip sup- 
ply of all he wants ; his prosperity will diffuse it- 
self to every class of the community." — Speech 
of Hon. Jolui C. Calhoun on the tariff. 

" I ask, what is the real situation of the agri- 
culturist ? Where has the American farmer a 
market for his surplus produce ? Except for cot- 
ton, he has neither a foreign nor a home market. 



Docs not this clearly prove, when there is no mar- 
ket at home or abroad, that there is too much la- 
bor employed in agriculture ? Common sense at 
once points out the remedy. Take from agrieul- 
ture 600,000 men, women and children, and you 
will at once give a market for more bread- 
stuffs than all Europe now fiunishes. In short 
we have been too long subject to the policy of 
British merchants. It is time we should be- 
come a little more Ameri.cauized, and, instead of 
feeding the paupers and laborers of England, feed 
our own ; or else, in a short time, by continuing 
our present policy, we shall all be rendered pau- 
pers ourselves." — A. Jackson to Dr. Coleman, 
April 26, 1834. * ^ 

The present, too, seeinl to be the proper time 
for us to give to this question of the disposal of 
our immense surplus a thorough, calm and de- 
liberate investigation. On the decision of it the 
prosperity of this great country depends. It has 
been well said that, " to encourage the progress 
of agricultural improvement is the only road to 
national wealth." Our object should not be so 
much to stimulate to larger production, as to 
open the ways and means by which the husband- 
man shall have a market, and shall know how 
his labor and skill may be most available. For 
this purpose, he needs a yearly and more full sur- 
vey of the crops, the markets and prices, than he 
can now have. Thousands and millions of dol- 
lars are lost to our country by the misemployment 
of productive industry, from the mere want of in- 
formation ; and, strange as it may appear, our own 
country, extensive as it is, and devoted as are its 
population to Agriculture, is almost the only one 
among civilized nations where but little has been 
done by the National Legislature for this great 
object. England, and France, and Germany, 
and Russia watch with deep interest, in their 
national capacities, over their agricultural pros, 
perity. The farmers ahd planters are beginning 
to feel the importance of more regard to their 
interests, especially in the way of furnishing 
them with the means of knowledge. The return 
of the census every ten years is not itself suf- 
ficient. It may prove a starting point for each 
period, and one at which corrections may be 
made ; but, from year to year, there should bo 
imbodicd the best results of investigation, care- 
fully and thoroughly conducted. Something has, 
indeed, been thus attempted, in these agricultural 
statistics, subjoined to the Report of the Commis- 
sioner of Patents, and many of our hard working 
husbandmen have expressed their sense of the 
benefit thus derived, and their joy at even this 
care of their interests by the National Govern- 
ment ; but this is not enough, or as much as 
ought to be done. In the language of one of our 
best agricultural journals, conducted by one who 
himself has held a seat in the halls of om National 
Legislature, and who, therefore, knows well what 
comparative neglect this subject has received : '"{ 

" We want a sj'-stcm of national legislation for 
tiiis pui-pose that shall be effectual to collect, 
periodically, in every State of our Union, and 
concentrate to one point, at the seat of the Na- 
tional Government, precise, accurate, authentic 
and official statistical information upon all the 
annual results of the husbandman's industry — 
showing to every body, at all times, as near as 



38 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



human watchfulness can, upon a scale so ex- 
tended, all the elements of both the demand and 
the supply of every article of produce that enters 
into our markets. With information of this de- 
scription, published and disseminated through the 
land by Congress, with only half the profusion 
that partisan documents arc spread by each and 
every party, an enthe revolution in the condition 
and productiveness of the husbandman's labor 
would be eifectcd. There would be system, cer- 
tainty and confidence pervading the outlays and 
the income of the husbandman." 

If the length of the revievi' of the crops and 
accompanyuig remarks, combined ^vith the va- 
rious subjects found i*the Documents seem at 
first view to be unnecessary, it is believed that 
tlie feelings of the whole agricultural commimity 
will fully justify the dilFusion of a document em- 
bracing so much varied information connected 
with tlic welfare of our common country. 



ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS. 

No. 1. 
Letter from Hon. John Taliaferro, of Virgjnia. 
Wasuikgto.x, January 16, 184.3. 

Dear .Sir : I have received the letter which 
you did me the honor to address to me under 
date of the 12th instant, and I seize a moment in 
the hiUTy of other concerns to reply to it. 

1st. You inquire what my experience has been 
in a species of wheat said to have come to us from 
the Mediterranean, and known by that name. 

2d. What has been the result of the trials of 
others, in the cultivation of this wheat, within my 
observation. 

3d. AVhcther tliis wheat resists, effectually, the 
ravages of the Hessian fly. 

4th. What, in ni}- opinion, are the properties of 
tliis wheat which enable it to resist, without the 
least injury, tlie ravages of an insect so ruinous 
*to every other species of wheat. 

I shall answer in the above order of the (ques- 
tions \ but, before I do so, I will give you the re- 
sult of my experience and observation as to the 
periods of the year in which the Hessian fly com- 
mits its ravages on wheat, and what the particular 
injury is at such period. The first attack of the 
fly is verj' soon after the wheat germinates, and 
the maggot will then be found attached to the 
tender sprout, immediately at or very near the 
point of vegetation. Hence the radical destruc- 
tion by the fly, in the fall season, not only to large 
regions of a field, but not unfrequently of entire 
fields. This is called the fall attack of the fly ; 
and to avoid which, farmers have been driven, 
by this insignificant insect, to sow wheat at a 
period of the fall too late to furnish reasonable 
expectations of a good crop, one year in ten ; 
from the 15th of August to the 15th >Septernber 
is the proper season to sow wheat. The next 
attack of the fly on wheat commences in the 
spring, as soon as the weather is sufficiently warm 
to hatch the egg, and with us in Virginia that oc- 
curs about the middle of April, from which time 
till the middle of May (up to wliich period the 
ground joint of wlieat, on which the maggot sub- 
sists as soon as it is hatched, remains tender and 
full of juice) the spring injury is done. 



In reply to your first inquiry, I answer that I 
obtained from my friend, the Hon. Arnold Nau- 
dain, of Delaware, a specimen of the wheat, now 
known as the Mejliterranean wheat. I have 
raised five crops of it, without the least injury 
from the fly, and none material from rust ; and 
such has been the invariable result of many trials 
of this wheat, by individuals to whom I have dis- 
posed of it for seed, during the three yeai-s past. 

Tiic reason why this wheat escapes injury from 
the fall attack of the fly is, that it certainly is so 
constituted as to possess, and to be sustamed by, 
a more vigorous root tlian any otlier known wheat 
is ; so that while the fly in the fall destroys all 
other wheat known to us, root and branch, thus 
denuding fields more or less, according to season 
and other circumstances, not a root of this wheat 
is destroyed, owing, no doubt, to its energj'. 

The reason why this wheat escapes the spring 
attack of the fly is to be found in the same prop- 
erty — its energy of root — owing to which, or 
some other unknown cause, its growth in the 
spring is more rapid and vigorous than any other 
winter wheat ; so that, by the middle of April, it 
attains a hard, and sapless gronnd joint impene- 
trable by the then J'oung maggot, which produces 
the fly, and, if penetrated, furnishing no pabu- 
lum, (that is, sap,) hence the maggots, no matter 
how many, perish, without doing the least injury 
to the wheat. 

The reason why this wheat is less liable to rust 
than other winter wheat is, that it matures from 
eight to ten days earlier. I have never, till last 
fall, sowed this wheat eariier than the 15th of 
September. On the 4tli of last September I 
sowed five rows in diill, and at the same time I 
sowed in juxtaposition a drdl of beautiful and 
popular white wlieat. When I left home, in No- 
vember, the drill of white wheat was nearly de- 
stroyed, root and branch, while the Mediterranean 
wheat was entirely free from injury. 

And as I know, for the reasons stated above, 
that it is to sustain no injury m the spring, I 
look to this wheat to restore to us our true seed 
time, and thus to exempt the wheat crop from all 
maladies necessarily incident to any crop sowed 
or planted out of season. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 
JOHN TALIAFERRO. 

H. L. Ellswoth, Esq. 

No. 2. 

Wilmington, Deceniherld, 1842. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of the 6th instant was 
duly received. I am sorry I cannot give you more 
definite and satisfactory information in regard to 
our experiments ; but such as I have is at your 
service. The fact is, that our corn was fully ripe 
before the least preparation had been made toward 
manufacturing it ; and after this the delays and 
breakages incident to new machinery so hindered 
our progress that a considerable part of our crop 
was killed by the frost before it could be ground. 
Yet the greater part of the crystallized sugar, 
which I procured the present season, was made 
from this frost-killed corn. The product was un- 
doubtedly injured, but not to the extent that might 
have been expected. This fact is important, as 
it shows the superiority of corn over cane ; the 
latter is totally ruined by frost. The reason of 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



39 



this difference is, that corn becomes more fully 
matured, and it is at the same time a much more 
hardy plant. 

For evaporation, the present season, I had two 
copper kettles, about two feet deep, capable of 
holding from 50 to 60 gallons. A charge in 
these kettles could not possibly be finished in less 
than ten or twelve hours. This long-continued 
appUcation of heat caused the sirup to become 
very dark, and deprived it entirely of the power 
of crystallization. Seeing this result, I procured 
a tin vessel (copper would have been better) about 
two feet long, eighteen inches wide, and six 
niches deep. In this, evaporation could be com- 
pleted in about two hours ; the sirup was hght 
colored, like honey,, and crystalUzed very well, 
though not so quickly as would be desirable. — 
This sirup (although so much finer in appearance, 
compared with that procured by the first press) 
is not so agreeable to the taste ; it retains, to a 
considerable degree, the peculiar flavor of corn- 
stalk. 

After crystallization, tljis taste is entirely con- 
fined to the molasses, the sugar not retviining it 
in any sensible degree. It appears, from my ex- 
periments, that this peculiar taste is owing to a 
certain substance, which may be either driven off 
or decomposed by the application of heat, if con- 
tinued for a sufficient length of time ; therefore, 
after the sugar is separated from the molasses, the 
latter should be boiled (with the addition of wa- 
ter, if necessary) until the corn taste is entirely 
removed. The shorter the time which is allowed 
to elapse, from crushing the stalks to finishing 
the evaporation, the greater will be the proportion 
of sugar in the sirup, and vice versa. 

Professor Mapes's 'directions on the subject are 
excellent, and, if adhered to, will ensure good re- 
sults. I do not think that any manufacture ever 
promised better in the early stages of its intro- 
duction than this has done. 

We have every reason for confidence and per. 
severance, and none at all for despondency ; 
time only is necessary to perfect the d-Jtails, and 
settle the business upon a firm foundation. 

A revolution in trade will then ensue, vastly 
important in its effects. 

Hoping that we may see all tliis in own time, I 
remain yours, respectfully, 

WILLIAM WEBB. 
H. L. Ellsworth, Esq., 

Washington, D. C. 

No. 3. 

Remarks on the Manufacture of Maize Sugar, 
by William Webb, of Wilmington, Delaware. 
The most profitable application of labor is a 
desideratum too freequently overlooked or disre- 
garded by those who attempt the introduction of 
new manufactures into a country. All calcula- 
tions of advantage which is to result froni the 
production of any article must be made with due 
regard to this point, or practice will prove them 
to be erroneous. 

Fully impressed with tliis truth, the most rigid 
examination is invited into every thing now of- 
fered ; so that, as far as possible, we may arrive 
at a correct decision respecting the real value of 
the proposed manufacture. In common with 



many others, I have felt considerable interest in 
the plan for extending the cultivation of sugar 
in temperate climates, and have made many ex- 
periments, first upon the beet, and recently upon 
maize or Indian com, in the hope of discovering 
some mode by which the desired end might be 
attained. 

The results from the latter plant have been ex- 
tremely encouraging. The manufacture of sugar 
from it, compared with that fi-om the beet, offers 
many advantages. It is more simple, and less 
liable to failure. The machinery is less expen- 
sive, and the amomit of fuel required is less by 
one-half. The quantity of sugar produced on a 
given space of ground is greater, besides being of 
better quality. An examination into the nature 
and productive powers of these two plants will 
show that no other results could have been rea- 
sonably expected. It is a well-established fact, 
that every variety of production found in plants 
is derived from the sap. It is also ascertained 
that the principal substance found in the sap or 
juice of many vegetables is sugar. Therefore, 
the amount of saccharine matter produced by any 
plant of this description may be estimated from 
an analysis of the fruit, seed, &c, of such plant, 
when ripe. The grain yielded by corn, and the 
seed from beet, in the second summer of its 
growth, are nothing more than this sap or juice 
elaborated by the process of vegetation, and pre- 
sented to our view in another form. 

Now, as it is contrary to the economy of nature 
to suppose that there should be any loss of nutri- .^ 

tive matter in this change of sap uito seed or 
grain, does it not follow that there must be the 
same difference in the quantity of sugar produced 
by the two plants as there is between the nutritive 
properties of beet seed and corn ? 

The juice of maize contains sugar, acid, and a 
gummy mucilaginous matter, which forms the 
scum. From the experiments of Gay Lussac, 
Thenard, Kirchoff, and others, [it is proved] that 
starch, sugar, and gum, arc extremely similar in 
composition, and may be as readily converted mto 
each other, by chemical processes, as they are by 
the operation of nature. For example : starch 
boiled in diluted sulphuric acid for thirty-six 
hours, is converted into sugar of greater weight 
than the starch made use of. 

This result goes to show that every pound of 
starch found in the seed of a plant has required 
for its production at least one pound of sugar, in 
the form of sap. If it be objected that this de- 
duction is too theoretical to be admitted, it may 
be answered that experiment, so far as it has 
gone, has fully attested its correctness. 

The raw juice of maize, when cultivated for 
sugar, marks 10° on the saccharometer ; while 
the average of cane juice (as I am informed) is 
not higher than 8°, and beet juice not over 3°. 

From 9| quarts (dry measure) of the former, I 
have obtained 4 pounds 6 ounces of sirup, con . 
centrated to the point suitable for crystallization. 
The proportion of crystallizable sug^ir appears to 
be larger than is obtained from cane juice in 
Louisiana. This is accounted for by the fact, 
that our climate ripens corn perfectly, while it 
but rarely, if ever happens, that cane is fully ma- 
tured. In some cases the sirup has crystalliied 
so completely, that less than one-sixth^ part of 



40 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



molasses remained. This, however, only hap- 
pened after it had stood from one to two months. 
There is reason to believe, that if the plant were 
fully ripe, and the process of manufacture per- 
fectly performed, the sirup might be entirely 
crystallized without fonning any molasses. 

This perfection in the manufactme caimot, 
however, be attained with the ordinary apparatus. 
Without any other means for pressing out tlie 
juice than a small hand-mill, it is impossible to 
say how great a quantity of sugar may be pro- 
duced on an acre. 

The experiments have ceen duccted more to 
ascertain the saccharine quality of cornstalk than 
the amount a given quantity of groimd will pro- 
duce ; but the calculatioas made from trials on a 
small scale leave no room to doubt that the quan- 
tity of sugar will be from 800 to 1,000 pounds. 
This amoimt will not appear unreasonable, when 
it is considered that the juice of com is as rich as 
that of cane, and the weight of green produce at 
least equal. 

Mr. Ellsworth, in one of his publications 
states, as the result of actual weighing and mea- 
suring, that corn, sown broadcast, yielded five 
pounds of green stalks per square foot ; tliis is at 
the rate of 108^ tons to the acre. 

My attention was first directed to maize as a 
material forsugai- by observing that, in some 
stalks, the juice was extremely sweet, wliile in 
others it was weak and watery. On examina- 
tion, it appeared that the latter had borne large 
and perfect ears and gram, wliile, on the former, 
these were either small m size or entirely wanting. 
The natural conclusion from this observation was, 
that if the ears were taken off in tlieir embryo 
state, the whole quantity of saccharine matter 
produced by the process of vegetation would be 
preserved in the stalk, from which it might be ex- 
tracted when the plant was matured. But tlie 
idea occurred too late in the season to test it by 
experiment. A few stalks, however, were found 
which, from some cause, had borne no graui ; 
tliese were bruised with a mallet, and the juice 
extracted by a lever press. Some lime was then 
added, and |the dessication, evaporation, &c, be- 
ban and finished in a single vessel. By these 
simple means, sugar of fair quahty was produced, 
which was sent to the horticultural exhibition of 
our society in 1840. 

I hava since been informed, through Mr. Ells- 
worth, .that M. Pallas, of France, had disco- 
vered, in 1839, that the saccharine properties of 
maize were increased by merely taking off the ear 
in its embryo state. An experiment, liowever, 
wliich I instituted, to determine the value of this 
plaji, resulted in disappointment ; the quantity of 
sugar produced was not large enough to render it 
an object. The reasons of this failure will be suf- 
ficiently obvious on stating the circumstances. 
It was found that taking the ear off a large stalk, 
euch as is produced by the common mode of cul- 
tivation, inflicted a considerable wound upon the 
plant, which injured its health, and, of course, 
lessened its productive power. It was also foimd 
that the natural disposition to form grain was so 
strong, that several successive ears were thrown 
out, by which labor was increased, and the in- 
juries of the plant multiplied. Lastly, it ap- 
peared that the juice yielded from those plants 



contained a considerable portion of foreign sub- 
stance not favorable to the object in view. Yet, 
under all these disadvantages, from one hundred 
to two hundred pounds of sugar per acre may be 
obtained. 

The manifest objections detailed above sug- 
ggested anotlier mode of cultivation, to be em- 
ployed in combination with the one first proposed; 
it consists simply in raising a greater number of 
plants on the same space of ground. By tliis 
plan, all the unfavorable results above mentioned 
were obviated, a much larger quantity of sugar 
was produced, and of better quality. The juice 
produced by this mode of cultivation is remark, 
ably pure and agreeable to the taste. Samples of 
the sugar yielded by it are now in the Patent 
Office, witli a small hand-mill by which the stalks 
were cruslied. Some of the same kind was exlii- 
bited to oiu- agricultural society in October, 1841, 
accompanied with an answer to an invitation from 
its president, Dr. J. W. Thompson, to explain the 
mode of culture and process of manufacturing the 
sugar. The molasses, after standmg, as before 
mentioned, from one to two months, became filled 
with small crystals, which, on being di'auied, ex- 
hibited a peculiar kind of sugar ; the grain is 
small, and somewhat inferior in appearance, but 
still is as sweet and agreeable to tlie taste as can 
be desired. A small sample of this sugar I have 
brought for your inspection. This product, from 
what was thought to be molasses, is a new and 
miexpected discovery, and discloses an unportant 
fact in the investigation of tliis subject. It shows 
the superior degree of perfection attained by the 
com plant, compared with the cane, in any part 
of the Union. It is generally understood that the 
latter cannot be fully matured in any except a tro 
pical climate, and the proportion of molasses ob- 
tained from any plant is greater or less according 
to the immaturity or perfection of its growth. 
The sweetness of the cornstalk is a matter of uni- 
versal observation. Our forefathers, in the revo- 
lutionary straggle, resorted to it as a means to fur- 
nish a substitute for West India sugar. They ex- 
pressed the juice, and exerted their ingenuity in 
efforts to bring it to a crystallized state, but we 
have no account of any successful operation of 
the land. In fact, the bitter and nauseous pro- 
perties cfintauied in the joints of large stalks ren- 
der the whole amount of juice from them fit only 
to produce an inferior kind of molasses. I found, 
on experiment, that, by cutting out the joints, 
and crushing the remaining part of the stalk, su- 
gar might be made, but still of an inferior quality. 
The molasses, of which there was a large propor- 
tion, was bitter and disagreeable. 

From one to two feet of tlie lower part of these 
stalks was full of juice ; but the balance, as it 
approached the top, became dryer, and afforded 
but little. From the foregoing experiments we 
see that, in order to obtain the purest juice, and 
in the greatest quantity, we must adopt a mode 
of cultivation which will prevent the large and 
luxuriant growth of the stalk. 

As we are upon the threshold of this inquiry, 
many other improvements may be expected m 
the mode of operation ; for example, it may be 
that cutting off the tassel as soon as it appears on 
the plant, will prevent the formation of grain, and 
prove a preferable means for effecting that object. 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



41 



On the whole, there appears ample encourage- 
ment for perseverance. Every step in the inves- 
tigation has increased the probabilities of suc- 
cess ; no evidence having been discovered why it 
should not succeed as well, if not better, on a 
large scale, than it has done on a small one. 

1. In the first place, it has been satisfactorily 
proved, that sugar of an excellent quality, suita- 
ble for common use without refining, may be 
made from the stalks of maize. 

2. That the juice of this plant, when cultivated 
in a certain manner, contains saccharine matter 
remarkably free from foreign substances. 

3. The quantity of this juice (even supposing 
we had no other evidence about it) is sufficiently 
demonstrated by the great amount of nutritive 
graui which it produces in the natural course of 
vegetation. It is needless to expatiate on the 
vast advantages which would result from the in- 
troduction of this manufacture into our country. 

Grain is produced in the West in such over- 
flowing abundance that the markets become glut- 
ted, and inducements are offered to employ the 
surplus produce in distillation. This business is 
now becomui^ disreputable. The happy convic- 
tion is spreadmg rapidly, that the use of alcohol, 
as a beverage, instead of conducing to health 
and strength, is the surest means of destroymg 
both. Some other production, therefore, will be 
required, in wliich the powers of our soil may 
be profitably employed. This, it is hoped, will 
be found in the business now proposed. Instead 
of distilleries, converting food into poison, we 
may have sugar-houses, manufacturing at our 
doors an article in universal demand, not merely 
useful, but necessary, furnishing as it does one of 
the most simple, natural, and nutritious varieties 
of human sustenance fomid in the whole range of 
vegetable production. 

It is said that the general use of sugar in Eu- 
rope has had the effect to extinguish the scurvy 
and many other diseases formerly epidemical. It 
may be doubted whether a tropical comitry can 
ever furnish a great amomit of exports, except 
through the means of compulsory labor. It ap- 
pears, then, highly probable, that if the inhabi- 
tants of temperate coimtries wish to continue the 
use of sugar, they must find some means to pro- 
duce it themselves. The beet appears to succeed 
well in Europe, and the manufacture from it is 
extending rapidly ; but there is no hazard in mak- 
ing the assertion that Indian corn is far better 
adapted to our purpose. The following mode of 
cultivating the plant, and making the sugar, is 
the best that can now be offered. The kind of | 
soil best adapted to corn is so well understood, | 
that no directions on this point are necessary, ex- 
cept that it shoidd be rich — the richer the better ; i 
if not naturally fertile, manure must be apphed, ' 
either ploughed in or spread upon the siu-face, or | 
used both ways, according to the ability of the 
owner. Notliing can form a better preparation 
for the crop than a clover sod well turned under i 
and harrowed fine immediately before planting. 

Select for seed the largest and best ears of any 
variety of corn not disposed to throw up suckers j 
or spread out in branches ; that kind most pro- 1 
ductive in the neighborhood will be generally the 
one best adapted to the purpose. The planting 
should be done with a drilling machine. One 



man, with a pair of horses and an instrument of 
this Idnd, will plant and cover, in the most per- 
fect manner, from ten to twelve acres in a day. 
The rows (if practicable, let them run north and 
south) two and a half feet apart, and the seed 
dropped sufficiently thick in the row to ensure a 
plant cverp two or three inches. A large harrow, 
made with teeth arranged so as not to injure the 
corn, may be used to advantage soon after it is 
up. The after culture is performed with a culti- 
vator, and here will be perceived one of the great 
advantages of drilling : the plants all growing in 
lines, perfectly regular and straiglit with each 
other, the horse-hoe stirs the earth and cuts up 
the weeds close b;^ every one, so that no hand, 
hoeing will be required in any part of the culti- 
vation. " It is part of the system of cane plant- 
ing in Louisiana, to raise as full a stand of cane 
upon the ground as possible, experience having 
proved tha t the most sugar is obtained from the 
land in this way." As far as my experience has 
gone, the same thing is true of corn. This point 
must therefore be attended to, and the deficien. 
cies, if any occm*, made up by timely replant- 

The next operation is taking off" the ears. — 
Many stalks will not produce any ; but, whenev- 
er they appear, they must be removed. It is not 
best to undertake tliis work too early, as, when 
the ears first appear, they are tender, and cannot 
be taken off" without breaking, which increases 
the trouble. Any time before the formation of 
grain upon them will be soon enough. 

Nothmg further is necessary to be done until 
the crop is ready to cut for gruiding. In our 
latitude, the cutting may commence with the 
earlier varieties about the middle of August. The 
later kinds will be ripe in Srptember, and continue 
in season until cut off" by the frost. The stalks 
should be topped and bladed while standing in 
the field. They are then cut, tied in bmidles, 
and taken to the mill. The top and blades, when 
properly cured, make an excellent fodder, rather 
better, it is believed, than any hitherto used ; and 
the residuum, after passing the rollers, may easi- 
ly be dried and used in the same Way — another 
advantage over the cane, which, after the juice 
is expressed, is usually burned. 

The mills should be made on the same general 
principle employed in constructing those intended 
for grinding cane. An unportant diff"erence, 
however, wUl be found both in the original cost 
and in the expense of working them. Judgmg 
from the comparative hardness of the cane and 
cornstalk, it is believed that one-fourth part of 
the strength necessary in the construction of a 
cane-mill will be amply sufficient for com, and 
less than one-fourth part of the power will move 
it with the same velocity. It may be made with 
three upright wooden rollers, from twenty to forty 
inches in length, turned so as to run true, and 
fitted into a strong framework, consisting of two 
horizontal pieces, sustained by uprights. These 
pieces are mortised, to admit wedges on each side 
the pivots of the two outside rollers, by which 
their distances from the middle one may be regu- 
lated. The power is applied to the middle roller, 
and the others are moved from it by means of 
cogs. In grinding, the stalks pass through on 
the right side of the middle cylinder, and come 



42 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



in contact with a piece of framework called the 
dumb returner, wliich directs them backwards, 
so that they pass tlirough the rollers again, on 
the opposite side of the middle one. (See plate.) 
Tlie modern improved machine is made entiiely 
of iron, three horizontal rollers, arranged in a 
triangidar fonn, one above and two below ; the 
cane or stalk passes directly through, receiving 
two pressures before it escapes. (See plate.) The 
lower cylinders are contained in a small cistern 
which receives the juice. The latter machine is 
the most complete ; the former the least expen- 
sive. These mills may be moved by cattle ; but, 
for large operations, steam or water power is 
preferable. When the vertical cylinders are 
turned by cattle, the axis of the middle one has 
long levers fixed across it, extending from ten to 
fifteen feet from tiie centre. To render the arms 
firm, the axis of this roller is carried up to a con- 
siderable liiglit ; and oblique braces of wood, by 
which the oxen or horses draw, are extended 
from the top of the vertical axis to tiie extremi- 
ties of each of the arms. When horizontal cyl- 
inders are propelled by anhnal power, the upper 
roller is turned by the cogs at one end, which 
arc caught by cogs on a vertical shaft. It is said 
that, in the West Indies, the piu-est cane juice 
will ferment in twenty minutes after it enters the 
receiver. Com juice lias been kept for one hour 
before boiling, without any apparent injury re- 
sultmg ; but so much delay is not desirable, as it 
may be attended with bad effects. 

The process which lias been employed in the 
manufacture of maize sugar is as follows ; The 
juice, after coming from the mill, stood for a 
short time, to deposite some of its coarser inipiui- 
ties. It was then poured off, and passed through 
a flannel strainer, in order to get rid of such mat- 
ters as could be separated in this way. Lime 
water, called milk of lime, was then added, in the 
proportion of one or two table spoons full to the 
gallon. It is said by sugar manufacturers that 
knowledge on this point can only be acquired by 
experience ; but I have never failed in making 
sugar from employing too much or too little of 
the lime. A certain portion of tliis substance, 
however, is undoubtedly necessary, and more or 
less than this will be injurious ; but no precise 
directions can be given about it. The juice was 
then placed over the fire, and brought nearly to 
the boiling point, when it was carefully skim- 
med — taking care to complete this operation be- 
fore ebullition commenced. It was then boiled 
down rapidly, removing the sciun as it rose. The 
juice was examined, from time to time; and if 
there was any appearance of feculent particles, 
which would not rise to the surface, it was again 
passed through a flannel strainer. In judgeing 
when the sirup is sufficiently boiled, a portion was 
taken between tlie thumb and finger ; and if, 
when moderately cool, a thread half an inch long 
could be drawn, it was considered to be done, 
and poured into broad shallow vessels, to crysta- 
lize. In some cases, crystalization commenced 
in twelve hours ; in others, not till after several 
days ; and in no case was this process so far com- 
pleted as to allow the sugar to be drained in less 
than three weeks from the time of boding. 
The reason why so great a length of time was 
required I have not yet been able to discover. 



There is no doubt but that an improved process 
of manufacture will cause it to granulate as 
quickly as any other. 

Enough has been said to enable any one bo dis- 
posed to manufacture sugar from maize. 

As to the profits of the business, I shall make 
no positive assertions ; experience on the subject 
is yet too limited to warrant them ; and, as all 
the facts in relation to it are now before the public, 
every one interested can draw his own conclu- 
sions. It is said, by those acquainted with the 
cultivation of the cane, that that business cannot 
be carried on profitably on less than one hundred 
acres in crop ; and tliat attempts on a small scale 
will be certain to fail, with a great loss of time 
and labor. How far this may be applicable to 
corn remains to be seen. 

Some comparison between the cultivation of 
cane and that of com may perhaps be interesting. 

The cane lands in Louisiana are redeemed to 
agriculture by strong embankments along the 
river, and by numerous ditches, which extend 
back into the swamp to a considerable distance 
beyond the line of cultivation. The ground is 
still further divided, by smaller ditches, into lots 
of from one to two acres in extent. It is ex- 
tremely rich and productive, but the expense of 
draining and keeping up the embankments must 
be considerable ; this forms the first difference to 
be noted in the culture of the two plants under 
consideration. 

The best season for planting cane in Louisiana 
is in the fall, which is also the time of harvest, 
when labor is the most valuable, and the greatest 
exertions are required to secure the crop before it 
is destroyed by frost. 

But the most striking difference will be found 
in the cost of seed, and in the labor of planting. 
The cane is propagated by layers ; these are partly 
furnished from -the tops of the plants, when cut 
for grinding, but are principally ratoons. Of the 
latter, it requires the produce of one acre to plant 
three. The grain from one acre of com will be 
sufficient for planting forty acres f therefore, the 
difference m the expense for seed will be as one to 
thirteen. 

In planting cane, furrows are made with the 
plough from two and a half to three feet apart ; 
in these the layers are placed, in a double row, 
and the earth drawn over them, with hoes, to the 
depth of three or four inches. 

In the spring, before tlie plants are up, this cov- 
ering is partly scraped oft', so as to leave them 
buried from one to two inches. From this account, 
it is evident that no more manual labor will be 
required to drill fifty acres in corn, than to plant 
one acre in cane. The labor of cultivating the 
latter plant during its growth is also greater, but 
this may be balanced by the extra work required 
to take off tiie embryo ears from the corn. When 
cultivated in the mode recommended, the stalk 
of com is soft, remarkably heavy, and full of juice 
from bottom to top. The amount of power re- 
quired for grinding them must be much less than 
is necessary for cane, or, what is the same thing, 
an equal jwwer will do it with greater rapidity. 
The average yield of cane, in Louisiana, is one 
thousand poimds of sugar and forty-five gallons 
of molasses per acre. From the above compara- 
tive statement, it would appear that one-half this 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



43 



amount of crop from corn would be equally, if 
not more, profitable. 

I will only add, in conclusion, that whether or 
not the sugar from the cornstalk may soon be- 
come an article of profitable export, its manufac- 
ture in the simplest form will enable every family 
to supply themselves with this article for common 
use, now become so much a necessary of life, and 
thus save a considerable bill of expense yearly 
paid for foreign sugars. 

Extract from Annales de la Sociefi PolytecJinique 
Practiqne, No. 22, for October, 1839.* 

.Sugar of Cor\. — There is no plant of greater 
general interest or utility than Indian corn. It 
can serve, under a great variety of different forms 
for the nourishment of man and the domestic an- 
imals, and, above all, the application of industri- 
ous science. 

In reference to its saccharine qualities, maize 
lias not been sufficiently appreciated. Travelers 
report that under the tropics the stalk of this 
plant is so very saccharine that the Indians suck 
it, as in other places they do the sugai- cane. M. 
Pallas, who has made a great many researches on 
this application of maize, lias arrived at a remark- 
able result : he has fomid by many experiments, 
both in France and more recently in Africa, that 
this vegetable, by a simple modification applied 
to its culture, is able to furnish a much more con- 
siderable quantity of sugar than by the ordinary 
method. This method consists in detaching 
from the plant, immediately after the foundation 
of the ovaries, (after the plant has tasseled,) the 
young ear, and to leave it to develope itself, thus 
deprived of its fruit. Arrived at maturity, the 
stalk of Indian com contains crystahzable su- 
gar, in quantity very often double that obtained 
when the plant is left to mature with the grain. 
In fact, by the ordinary mode of culture, the 
grain is nourished at the expense of the sugar in 
the stalk, as it absorbs a great quantity of this 
immediate prmciple, which, by the process of nu- 
trition, is converted into starch. On the other 
hand, if the young ears are immediately destroy- 
ed, the sugar intended to nourish them remains 
in them, where it accumulates, and the maize 
plant is thus converted into a true sugar cane, 
while the fibrous part can be manufactured into 
paper. 

The quantity of sugar is so very great in the 
stalk of the maize, deprived of the car, that the 
pith of this vegetable retains a sensible flavor of 
sugar, even after it has been dried, as is easily 
proved by examining the specimens deposited by 
M. Pallas in the bureau of the Academy of Sci- 
ence. These results are so important as to merit 
experiments on a grander scale, which may obtain 
thus for France a source of new industry in the 
manufacture of sugar. 



No. 4. 
Dear Sir : Your favor is duly received. 



You 



* Tfanilated at the Palent OSce, aad highly confirma- 
tory of Mr. Webb's essay. H. L ELLSWORTH. 



request to know the best method of crystalizing 
corn sirup, and I know of no more ready method 
to aiFord the information required than to detail 
the entire mode which should be pursued for its 
manufacture : 

1st. To cut the cane as ripe as possible, but be- 
fore any acetic acid is formed ; litmus paper, 
touched to the fresh-cut cane, will turn red if 
acid. 

2d. Express the juice without loss of time, as 
every moment after cutting will deteriorate its 
quality. 

3d. A small quantity of clear lime water (say 
one quart to a hundred gallons of juice) should 
be added the moment it is expressed, unless the 
juice shows acidity wnth litmus paper ; in that 
case, no lime should be used, but a solution of sal 
soda, or soda ash, should be added, mitil it is pre- 
cisely neutral. 

4th. When the juice is neutral free from ex- 
cess of acid or alkah) it should be evaporated in 
such an apparatus as would finish its charge in 
30 minutes ; if the boiling power is too small, 
good crystallization cannot possibly be obtained. 

The whole time occupied from the cutting of 
the cane to finisliing its boiling should not exceed 
one liour. 

5th. To know when the boiling is finished, 
place a thermometer in the kettle, and continue 
to evaporate until it stands at 230° Farenheit. — 
If, when placed to run off after cooling, it should 
be found too freely boiled, the next time boil to 
240°, or, if too light to run off, to 238°, and 
so on. 

6th. The kettle or boiler should be so arranged 
that the moment it is done its charge should be 
thrown into a cooler, capable of holding a num. 
ber of charges. The first charge should be left 
in the cooler, with stLrring, until the second charge 
is tlu'own in ; then with an oar scrape the crys- 
tals found on the side and bottom of the cooler 
loose, and gently stir the whole mass together, 
(the less stiiTed the better,) so continue, at the 
letting in of each charge, to stir gently ; and 
when all is in the cooler, let the whole stand un- 
til it cools down to 175° ; then fill out into sugar 
moulds of a capacity not less than 14 gallons. — 
When cooled in the mould sufficient, (say four- 
teen hours,) pull the plug out of the bottom of the 
[ mould, and insert a sharp point, nearly as large aa 
i the hole, some six inches ; withdraw the point, 
1 and stand the mould on a pot to drip. 

7th. If the sugar is intended to be brown, leav- 
] ing it standing on the spot for a sufficient length 
j of time, in a temperature of 80°, will run off its 
1 molasses, and leave it in a merchantable shape ; 
; it will probably require twenty days. It can then 
I be throv/n out of the moulds, and will be fit for 
j use. When moulds cannot be obtained, conical 
I vessels of wood or metal, with a hole at the apex, 
I will answer equally well. 

The above description will be sufficient for any 
operator, if strictly followed ; but should any of 
yoiu' friends wish to make the experiment on a 
large scale, or to produce white instead of brown 
sugar at a single operation, they had better see 
me personally before commencing, as the kind of 



44 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



kettle, and m?.ny other minor particulars, wUl be 
important. The above description, however, is 
fully sufficient for the use of the farmer. If the 
juice of cornstalks be manufactured with the ra- 
pidity named in the former part of this letter, no 
clarification will be necessary, and scum, which 
may rise during the boilbig, can be taken off with 
a skimmer ; but in the large loay both clarifica- 
tion and filtration would be requisite, as in large 
operations every part of the kettle cannot be got 
at to skim. Since I last saw you, I have made 
some experiments on the cornstalk ; and if your 
statements are correct as to the quantity of juice 
which can be obtained from the acre, then there 
can be no doubt of its entire superiority over the 
sugar cane. I fear, however, that the enthusiasm 
of those who made the experiments you spoke of, 
lias led them into errors. It is true that the juice 
of the cornstalk, grown with a view to sugar 
making, will yield a juice at 10° Beaume. I 
have arrangements to try the experiments fully 
in the coming summer, and when done will com- 
municate the result. 

I remain, sir, yours, respectfully, 

J. J. MAPES. 
Hon. H. L. Ellsworth. 

No. 5. 

Northampton, (Mass.) October 1, 1842. 
Dear Sir : Some time ago I intimated to you 
that I shoidd furnish you with an account of the 
cultivation of broomcorn in this region. Such an 
account I now enclose. 

Respectfully, I am 

Your obedient servant, 

WILLIAM ALLEN. 
Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, 

Commissioner of Patents, 

broomcorn. 

Of the genus sorghum (broom gr;iss) tliere arc 
four or five species. Sorghum sacc/niratum is the 
broomcorn, abimdantly cultivated in tliis country, 
both for the seed and for its large panicles, which 
are made into the brooms. The whole plant is 
saccharine. Attempts have been made in France 
to extract sugar from it, but with little success. 

Tlie other species arc the foUowuig : Sorghum 
dora, (or holcus dora,) common Indian millet, a 
native of the East Indies, but cultivated in the 
south of Europe, s. hicolor, or two-colored Indian 
millet, s. caffrorum, caffies Indian millet, and s. 
nigrum, coal-black Indian millet. 

Of the sorghum saccharatum, (or holcus sac- 
churatus,) broomcorn, there are several varieties 
raised in Hampsliire county, Massachusetts, in 
the valley of the Connecticut river, principally in 
the broad meadows of Northampton, Hadley, and 
Hatfield. The pine tree kind is regarded as the 
poorest kind, or the least advantageous for culti- 
vation ; yet, as it is the earliest, (being three weeks 
earlier than the large kind,) in a short season, 
when its seeds will ripen, while the seeds of the 
other kinds fail to ripen, this may prove the most 
profitable crop. The North river crop is ordinarily 
the best crop ; it is ten days earlier than the large 
kind, cind yields about 720 pounds of the brush 
per acre — the brush meaning the dried panicles, 
cleaned of the seed, with eight or twelve inches of 



the stalk. The New Jersey, or large kind, yields 
a thousand or eleven hundred pounds of brush per 
acre. The stalks and seed are large. In good 
seasons, this is the most profitable crop. But in 
the present season, (1842,) owing to an early 
frost, (about September 23,) much of the seed of 
this kind wiU fail to ripen. There is also the 
Shirley or black brush. Soil rich, alluvial lands 
are best adapted for the broomcorn, more especi- 
ally if warmly situated, protected by liills, ap.d well 
manured. 

Method of Planting. — The broomcorn is plant- 
ed in rows, about 2^ or 3 feet apart, so that a 
horse may pass between them with a plough, or 
cultivator, or harrow. The hills in each row are 
from 18 inches to 2 feet apart, or farther, accord- 
ing to the quality of the soil. The quantity of 
seed to be planted is estimated very differently by 
different farmers — some say that half a peck is 
enough per acre, while others plant half a bushel, 
and some a bushel, in order to make it sure that 
the land shall be well stocked. The rule with 
some is to cast a tea spoonful, or 30 or 40 seeds, 
in a liill ; the mantire at the time of planting 
should be put into the liill, and old manure or 
compost is preferred, as being most free from 
worms. 

Cultivation — The broomcorn should be ploughed 
and hoed three times — the last time when about 
three feet high, though some hoe it when it is six 
feet higli, and when they are concealed by it as 
they are toiling in the field. The number of stalks 
in a hill should be from seven to ten. If there 
are only five or six stalks, they will be larger and 
coarser ; if there are about eight, the brush will 
be finer and more valuable. In the first hoeing, 
the supernmnerary stalks should be pulled up. 

Harvesting. — As the frost kills the seed, the 
broomcorn is harvested at the commencement of 
the first frost. The long stalks are bent down at 
two or two and a half feet from the gromid ; and 
by laying those of two rows across each other 
obUquely, a kind of table is made by every two 
rows, with a passage between each table, for the 
convenience of harvesting. After drying for a 
few days, the brush is cut, leaving of the stalks 
from six to twelve niches. The longer it is cut, 
of course, the more it will weigh ; and, if tlie piu-- 
chaser does not object, the benefit will accrue to 
the farmer. However, the dry stalk weighs but 
httle ; if its weight is excessive, tlie purchaser 
sometimes requires a deduction from the weight. 
As it is cut, it is spread on the tables, still farther 
to drj'. As it is carried into the barn, some bind 
it in sheaves ; and this is a great convenience for 
the further operation of extracting the seed. Others 
throw the brush into the cart or wagon, mibound. 

Scraping. — The process of extracting the seed 
is called " scraping the brush." Two iron hori. 
zontal scrapers are prejjared — one moveable, to be 
elevated a little, so that a handful of brusli may 
be introduced between them. The upper scraper 
is then pressed down with one hand, and the 
brush drawn through with the other, the seed be- 
ing scraped off". This is the old metliod. ^ new- 
ly invented scraper is superseding the old one. It 
is an upright instrument, of elastic wood or steel, 
inserted in a bench of a convenient height for the 
operator. 



Improvements in AgricuUure and the Arts. 



is 



The form is as follows : 

o is a piece of wood or steel, im- 
moveable ; b and c are pieces which 
are elastic, moveable to the right 
and left at the top, but fastened to 
the central piece below. The de- 
gree of elasticity may be regulated 
by wedges in the planks d and / — 
wedges in the hole through which 
the pieces pass. 



10?: 



'f 



A quantity of brush is taken in the hand, and 
brought down upon the top of this instrument. — 
As it is forced down, and drawn towards the body, 
it separates the clastic sticks from the central 
piece, but their elasticity presses sufficiently on 
the brush, so that the seed is scraped off. 

The advantage of this scraper is, that both 
hands may be applied to the brush, instead of on- 
ly one hand, as in the other kind, and the elas- 
tic power of nature is substituted for the pressure 
of one of the hands. The instrument also seems 
to double the scraping surface. The instrument 
was invented at Hartford. I have been told it has 
not been patented. 

The following plan may therefore be useful. — 
The operator stands at the end A. 




The lower plank may rest on the barn floor, or 
have short legs. The upper oblique has a hole, 
through which the scraper passes, and down which 
the seed may fall. Each side of the instrument, 
a wedge may be inserted, to regulate its elasticity, 
or by some other contrivance this object may be 
secured. In scraping, the panicles must first be 
laid evenly together, and the stalks taken in the 
hand. If this is not done in the field, and bun- 
dies not formed, then must it be done with con- 
siderable labor at the time of scraping in the 
bam. 

Product. — A common crop is 700 to 800 
pounds per acre. There have been raised 1,000 
and 1,100 pounds per acre, with 80 to 100 bush- 
els of seed. The large kind grows eleven feet 
high. 

Value of the crop. — About the year 1836 or 
1837, the brush sold for 12^ cents a pound ; and 
one farmer in Northampton sold liis crop standing, 
unharvested, at one hundred dollars per acre. — 
Since then, the price has been decreasing. This 
year it has been foiu- and five cents. At six cents, 
the farmer, for 800 pounds, gets $48 an acre, be- 
sides 60 or 70 bushels of seed, worth a third of 
dollar a bushel — so that he receives $70 or up- 
wards from an acre. 

Good farmers regard the seed alone as equal to 



a crop of oats from the same land. Some land 
owners have rented their land for broom com, at 
$25 per acre, they putting on five or six loads of 
manure. 

One farmer, who a few years ago, cultivated 50 
acres in broom corn, must have had an almost 
uncquaUed income for a New England farmer. 

Quantity. — In Northampton, probably 200 
acres are raised ; in Hatfield, 300 ; in Hadley, 
400 ; in other towns, Whateley, Deerfield, Green- 
field, Easthampton, Southampton, South Hadley, 
Springfield, and Longmeadow, perhaps 300 or 400 
acres more ; in all, in the valley of the Connecti- 
cut, 1,200 or 1,300 acres; the product, in brush 
and seed, worth $1,000,000. 

Manufacture of brooms. — Individuals tie up 
brooms with wire or twine. The expense is great- 
er for mateiials and labor when wire is used. 

The turned broom handles cost, as delivered, 
only one dollar a hundred — one cent each. The 
expense of other materials and labor in making a 
broom is 6 cents, or on the whole about seven 
cents. In a good broom, a pound and a half of 
brush is employed, which at the present price of 
5 cents, would be 7^ cents, so that a broom made 
with wire costs now about 14^ cents. A manu- 
facturer recently went to Boston, and could get 
an offer of only 1 2 cents, or 12 dollars per hundred, 
for his brooms ; at which rate he could not afford 
to sell them, and chose to retain them. Brooms 
are made with brush weighing | of a pound, 1 
pound, 1^ poimd, and 1^ poimd. The brush is 
whitened by the manufacturer. It is placed in a 
large tight box, and bleached by the fmnes of sul- 
phur ; but this process is said to weaken the brush. 
Who would think of whitening broom brush, for 
beauty? Thus it is that fashion descends into 
the vale of life, and to the humblest of concerns. 
Why should not the housemaid wield a beautiful 
broom, with wliite brush and variously interlaced 
wire, and polished and variously colored handle ? 

Miscellaneous. — A few remarks will be added, 
some of which were omitted in their proper pla- 
ces. If the stalks are cut before the seed is ripe, 
they are better, stronger, more durable, than if cut 
after the seed is ripe. In this case, the farmer 
would lose the value of the seed. He of course 
will not submit to this loss, unless it is made up 
to him by the increased price of the brush. 

The seed is used for feeding horses, cattle, and 
swine. It is ground and mixed with Indian meal, 
and is regarded as excellent food — it weighs forty 
pounds a bushel. 

Mr. Shipmanof Hadley, is the greatest manu- 
factiurer of brooms in the valley of the Connecti- 
cut. If he employs, on an average, ten hands, 
and each hand makes 25 brooms per day, the 
number made in a year would be 78,000. It is 
said he has made 100,000. 

The brush, when it is put in tlie barn, should 
be placed on a scaffold, so as to be exposed to a 
circulation of the air, that it may dry, and not 
mould. For all the purposes of use, a broom made 
with twine is equal to one made with wire ; and 
a man can make several more of them in a day. 

Mr. Shipman uses 300 or 400 pounds of large 
twine, at 20 to 30 cents a poimd, and 2000 pounds 
of small twine, at 31 cents. Perhaps he manu- 
factures only an eighth part of the brooms manu. 
factured in Hadley. 



46 



improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



At the price of 20 cents, the price of brooms a 
few years ago, the broom manufacture of Hadley 
would thus amount to $160,000. 

It is probable that the extended cultivation of 
the broomcorn will redtxce the profits on this 
product to the average profits of good farming. 

No. 6. 
Cleveland, (0.,) December 7, 1842. 

Dear Sir : The manufacture of pot and pearl 
ashes is a very important item in tlic clearing of 
land in a new timbered country, and is of great 
importance to the new settler, being obtained pre- 
vious to getting a crop from his land. 

From an. experience in the manufacture of 
ashes for twenty years in the northern part of 
Ohio, I think the manufacture of pearl ashes is 
best adapted to a new country. In most cases, 
the best economy for the farmer is to leach and boil 
his lye into salts, and sell them to the manufactu- 
rer in the form of black salts, which is simply by 
scttinor up leaches, putting in a loose bottom rais- 
ed one or one and a half inches each above the 
tight bottom, on this a layer of straw, fill the leach 
with ashes, and use hot water. Boil the lye in 
kettles or pans until it crystallizes dry. These 
black salts find a ready market with the manu- 
facturer of pearl ashes. 

House ashes are much preferable for manufac- 
ture of pearl ashes. In manufacturing pot ashes, 
lime should be used freely in tlie bottom of the 
leach ; and it is M'cll to put lime in the water, and 
boiled, to wet down the ashes in the leach. The 
lye is boiled in kettles, and melted in pot ash ket- 
tles. 

Cleveland affords quite an extensive market for 
pearl ashes and scorched salts. The pearl ashes 
<are used in flint glass and sal-eratus manufactures ; 
scorched salts for manufacture of window glass. 
Scorched salts are made by simply bui'ning the 
black salts in the oven once. 

Our domestic markets net the best price to the 
manufacturer until supplied. 

Cast iron pans, for evaporators, effect much 
saving in fuel and labor ; tlic^y may be found in 
Cleveland. They arc made, say 3 feet broad, 4^ 
long and 7 inches deep. 

Pot ash kettles, of improved shapes and quality, 
are also made at Cleveland, wliich are pronounced 
v<>ry superior by those who have used them. 

Should you deem any further information on 
the subject of manufacturing of importance to 
western settlers, please write such questions as 
you wish answered. 

Yours, very respectfully, W. A. OTIS. 

H. L. Ellsworth. 



No. 7. 
P^oRT Wayne, December 31, 1842. 

Sir : I received your letter the last mail, re- 
questing me to give you some information on the 
production of ashes, which I will according to the 
best of my judgement, and my experience the past 
season has been considerable. 

Your first question is. How many bushels of 
ashes can be gathered from one acre of good tim- 
ber ? Answer. From seventy.Jive to one hundred 
and fifty ; and every four hundred bushels of 
ashes caref;ully saved will produce one ton of pot 
ash or pearl ash. 



A very safe calculation is^^re hundred pounds 
of pot or pearl ash to one acre of good timber, that 
at the present time is worth twenty-five dollars. I 
believe that the ashes off the first crop of good 
timber land is the most profitable one, as times 
are at present. A man would want about ,^100 
worth of pot ash kettles to begin with, which 
would be the principal expense, except his own 
labor. He could have a very quick return ; ashes 
can be turned into pot ash in thirty-six hours. 
Respectfully yours, 

H. WORK. 

Hon. H. L. Ellsworth. 

N. B. I wish you would send me the most ap- 
proved plan for making lard oil as early as possi- 
ble, and any information that I can give you at 
any time, I will do it with pleasure. H. W. 



No. 8. 
Kensington, Philadelphia, January 8, 1843. 

Sir : In answer to your enquiries upon the sub- 
ject of converting lard into oil, and also into con- 
crete forms for the manufacture of candles, I 
hasten to say, that, having been and still continu- 
ing very much engaged in chemical processes 
upon lard, I am not able, in the short time I can 
devote to the subject of your letter, to give you 
the ample information which is desirable, and 
which, if more at leisure, I could readily furnish. 
I however write off, curreute calamo, the result of 
some of my experiments in this branch of inqui- 
ry, which perhaps may be serviceable. The arti- 
cle of lard offered for sale in the market for do- 
mestic use, and now about to be so much in de- 
mand as material for the manufacture of lard oil 
and candles, is prepared from the adipose matter 
of the omentum and mesentery of the hog, by 
freeing it with the hand from the membraneous 
substance connected with it, washing with water 
imtil colorless, and melting with moderate heat, 
conlinued until the dissipation of all moisture, 
which i'act is known by tlie transparency of the 
melted matter, and the absence of crepiiacula, 
when small j)ortions are tlirown on burning coals. 

The chief source of this article is the west, 
from whence it is brought in kegs of from 40 to 
80 pounds each ; when fine, it is perfectly white 
in appearance, and rather inodorous, nearly taste, 
less, and, at moderate temperature, of a soft con- 
sistence, insoluble in water, and but partially so 
in alcohol. When exposed to the air, it becomes 
rancid by the absorption of oxygen ; this rancidi- 
ty, engendering a liability to injurious reaction, 
renders it unfit, in that state, to be used in phar- 
macy as an ingredient of cerates and ointments, 
of which it forms the principal part. For this 
purpose, therefore, it should be kept in close ves. 
sels free from contact of air. 

Lard as well as nearly all other fixed oils and 
fats are composed of tlu*ee proximate principles — 
I two solid^ called stearin (from or'cap, tallow) 
I and margarin, (from /^apyapirj/j a pearl,) and one 
1 liquid, of wliich there arc two varieties, called 
olein (from cKaiov, oil.) 

Stearin characterizes, for the most part, animal 
fats. Margarin, vegetable and olein, is almost 
universally present in both. The two first are es- 
sentially cbfferent from each other. Margarin is 
distinguished by its greater fusibiUty, its being 
more soluble in cold ethers, and the necessity of 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



47 



evaporation to procure it from such solution, wliile 
the stearin drops spontaneously during refrigera- 
tion. 

Berzelius thinks these prmciples not identical 
in different oils, as their points of congelation and 
liquefaction vary according to the substance from 
which they are derived. Pelouze and Boudet, 
however, attribute the variable fusibility of the 
margarin and stearin of fats 'to the existence of 
definite combinations of margarin and stearin, 
respectively, with olein ; and think that each of 
these principles, in a state of purity, is probably 
the same, from whatever soui'ce obtained ; and to 
prove which they assert having found the same 
margarin in palm oil as in liuman fat. But in 
oils, and particularly the vegetable, their investi- 
gations evinced the presence of two oleins, dis- 
tinctive in their characters ; one more soluble in 
different menstrua tlian the other, and with a less 
proportion of hydrogen, besides other properties 
inherent in the one not possessed by the other, 
more than the mention of which would occupy 
too much space and time. 

The ultimate principles of fixed oils are car- 
bon, hydrogen, and oxygen ; the hydrogen being 
in much larger proportions than is necessary to 
form water. To this predominance of hydrogen 
is attributed the readiness with which they burn 
with flame ; that property procuring for them all 
their usefidness as means of illumination or arti- 
ficial light. 

Stearin, the first named of the constituents of 
oil and fatty matters, is a concrete white sub- 
stance, insipid and without smell, fusible at 110° 
Farenheit, insoluble in water and but partially 
so in alcohol. 

Margarin, present in lard and most otiicr fats, 
and fonning by far the greater jjortion of olive 
oil, is more fusible than stearin, and, as its name 
indicates, of a pearly appearance, possessing also 
other properties different from stearin, mention of 
which has been made above. Olein, the oily 
principle formerly called elain, when pure is quite 
colorless, and in some degree has the appearance 
of vegetable oil, liquid at 60° and congealing at 
32° Farenheit, and, though not becoming rancid 
by exposure, acquires viscidity. The relative 
proportions of all these three principals are differ, 
ent in different fats. 

Nearly all kinds of fat, mader proper circum- 
stances, are capable of combination with alkali ; 
by which union the principles thereof arc clianged. 
By this reaction, they imdcrgo saponification, and 
are transmuted, not by the absorption of any for- 
eign substance, but by the union of the elements 
of a small portion of water into three peculiar 
acids, stearic, margaric, and oleic, which unite 
with the saUfiable base and into a peculiar sweet 
principle glycerin, (from yXvKv;, sweet,) which, 
in remaining behind, is not saponified. Of this 
sweet principle, there are formed about three dur- 
ing the saponification of every one hundred parts 
of lard or tallow. 

Hog's lard, in its natural state, Chevreul says, 
has not the property of combining with alkalis, 
but acquires it by experiencing some change in 
the proportion of its elements. Tliis change being 
induced by the action of the alkali, it follows that 
the bodies of the new formation must have a de- 
cided affinity for that species of body which has 



determined it. These acids, generated durijig sa- 
ponification by the action of the alkali, called 
adipose or saponic acids, are, when solid, in ap- 
pearance like wax, or spermaceti ; when liquid, 
they appear as their oils, mostly fusible at tempe- 
ratures below 212° Farenheit. 

The oleic, being generally mixed with that por- 
tion of margaric, which is hquid at the time and 
temperature of its preparation, is used sometimes 
as lamp oil, but mostly for tlic manufacture of 
soaps, while the remaining small portion of mar- 
garic, being of a consistence sufficient to retain 
it with the stearic, is allowed to remain with that 
body, which, when used for candles, experiences 
no great disadvantage by its presence. Stearic, 
the most important, and by far the most charac- 
teristic product of the saponification of lard, tal- 
low, and other not easily fusible fats, is the one 
of which, at your request, I am to speak in detail 
— an article, the use of which for making candles 
bids fair to be in this country most extensive. The 
consequence which tliis branch of manufacture is 
about to assmne, is no greater than its merits 
should obtain for it. Independent of all other 
advantages, the great reduction which it will oc- 
casion in the price of an article of such general 
and necessary use in domestic economy is alone 
sufficient to procure the attention which the sub- 
ject will and docs receive. Inferior in no degree 
to sperm, both as regards qualit}- and appearance, 
the stearin candles have the advantage of greater 
cheapness, as they can be made, even by Ihe 
English mode, hereafter given, at a cost of at 
least 20 per cent, less than sperm. Tiie increas- 
ing importance of this subject induced my atten- 
tion to it some eight or ten months previous ; 
since which period my vshole time lias been de- 
voted to its examination. The result of my in- 
vestigation is a process entirely diftercnt from all 
others, to be executed with so much facility, and 
with so little cost of time, money, and labor, that 
I expect to make by it candles, in appearance and 
quality, as perfect and good, if not better, than 
sperm, and whicli, when retailed, even at as low 
a price as 18| cenfs per pound, will afford a re- 
munerating profit ^o the manufactm'crs, and a 
profitable commisaon to the vender. I mention 
this price in consideration of the present rates of 
lard, the supply of which, owing to the unexpect- 
ed requisition ibr/liis purpose, is at present totally 
inadequate. Wien, however, this is removed by 
the increased supply which the producers will 
see it is then ii/terest to fimiish, the price of the 
material will b^ in a icw years much lower — this, 
and the improyements which by that time I shall 
have made in /hy mode, will, I expect, enable me 
to manufacture candles at a price so reduced as 
to entitle thep, when these superior properties arc 
considered, i> the substitution for the much used 
but unpleasa/it mould and dipped candles. 

I would yillingly communicate fully the man- 
ner of condticting the process, but, having been 
at a great <K;pense of time, money, and anxiety, 
I have det/rmined to remunerate myself by car- 
rying it inio practice ; and, for this purpose, I 
am now airanging apartments in my laboratory, 
and hope, by the coming spring, to have for sale, 
in quantit^s, candles as good or better than the 
sample I sent you some weeks since. 

I have spoken of lard, because this jurticlewill, 



48 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



without doubt, be the material from which to 
make these candles, both on account of the facil- 
ity with which it can be produced in quantities, 
its comparative cheapness, and the profit on its 
oil, yielded in a preparatory stage of the process 
for manufacturing the stearic acid, of the sub- 
stance of which the candles arc made. This oil, 
now largely in use, under the name of lard oil, is 
nearly pure oleic, its only admixture being small 
portions of margarin and stearin, with which it 
becomes connected during preparation. 

Its great superiority over sperm oil has caused 
it to be extensively substituted for that article, for 
lubricating the joints of machinery, and for man- 
ufacturing purposes generally. As a burning 
fluid, it has proved itself equally good ; and in 
corroboration of this is my experiment with lamps 
of eight ounces capacity, previously cleaned and 
new-wicked for the purpose. This experiment 
was frequently repeated, with the same results. 
In one lamp was pure sperm ; in the other lard 
oil, of only a fair quality, binned under the same 
circumstances. The consumption of oil in both 
was equal ; the quantity of light equal ; the flame 
was different, that of the lard oil being of a red- 
dish hue, and not so transparent as sperm. The 
lamps were of glass, and such as are ordinarily 
used for burning common oils. There is an er- 
roneous idea abroad, that it requires lamps of a 
peculiar construction fo consume this oil. It is 
not so ; for I use in tlic laboratory lamps of the 
commonest make. If, however, the notion will 
be persisted in, instead of pm'chasing an expen- 
sive burner, all that is necessary is to have substi- 
tuted, by any coppersmith, for yom- tin tubes in 
the lamps you may have those of copper, filed 
off quite tliin at the top, where the wick projects 
through, so as to prevent the passing off of too 
much heat ; then the lamp will answer to burn 
lard as well as oil. The price of lard oil being 
at all times about 25 cents less per gallon than 
fair sperm, and being equally good, preference 
should therefore be given to it, both because of 
its economy and of being a domestic production. 
It may be as well to mention that there are lard 
oils of various qualities — that prepared from dark- 
burned lard is not so good for burning, because 
of its causing, after several aours' burning, a 
crust on the wick ; and, as there has been a quan- 
tity of this kind of lard in market:, and bought for 
manufacturing tlie oil, it is not surprising that 
there should be a slight prejudice against it as a 



burning fluid. This prejudice, however, is al. 
ways removed by the use of that made from pure 
white lard. 

It may be as well to say here some few words 
in relation to the bm'ning of the lard. To further 
the consumption of this article, there has been 
introduced, by persons having at heart their own 
more then the interest of the community, an ex- 
pensive lamp, which they advertise as being pecu- 
liarly adapted for this purpose. The substitute of 
lard for its oil possesses no advantage, either as 
regards price or convenience ; the use of the lat- 
ter being so economical, and much more cleanly, 
besides its not requiring additional expense for a 
pecuhar kind of lamp. The liabiUty of these 
burners to smoke, and other disadvantages, will, 
upon trial, convince any one of their inconveni- 
ence ; and, if any other fact or corroboration is 
requisite, it is only necessary to say that, not- 
withstanding the gi'and display of the article in 
full flame at the last exhibition of the Franklin 
Institute, and the ample opportunity thereby 
afforded to judge ef their deserts, so destitute were 
they of merit as not ,o have elicited even a pass- 
ing notice or mention from the committee. If, 
however, lard is preferred to its oil, why go to the 
unnecessary expense of a new lamp, when any 
one you may have will answer fully as well, with 
the tubes altered as above directed ? Farther 
still, in proof of my assertions about the false eco- 
nomy of burning lard in preference to the lard oil, 
(the lard oil, as my experiment before mentioned 
proves, being equal to sperm,) I here insert the 
result of Harris &. Co.'s experiments, cut from a 
Boston paper last week : 

To ike Public. 

As much has been said of late respecting 
lamps, oil, and lard, the subscribers have caused 
a very -accurate experiment to be made, whereby 
the economy of oils and lard, producing light in 
the solar and carcel lamps, might be tested. — 
Tliese two descriptions of lamps were selected 
for the purpose, as they may be fairly deemed 
superior to all others in points of economy and 
safety. AVishing to satisfy all interested in the 
subject, and who may not have the conveniences 
necessary for the test, we shall give particulars of 
the experiment made November 10, 1842. 

The solar lamps, of the same size and construe. 



tion, and one French carcel lamp, were used. 

Time of burning, four hours. 

No. 1 deletes a solar lamp filled with whale oil. 

No. 2 CO solar do sperm oil. 

No. 3 dc carcel do sperm oil. 

No. 4 dc solar do hog's lard. 

Weight of whale til, 124 ounces per gallon, quahty indifferent. 

Weight of sperm cil, 120 oimces per gallon, quality good. 

Lard f best quality, fresh and sweet. 



Nos. 


Length of 
shadow. 


Squan inch. 


Quantity 
burnt. 


Cost per 
gallon. 


Cost of quan- 
tity burnt. 


Equal to 


No. 1 


37.2 inch. 

38.3 " 
32.6 ■» 
33.2 •< 
27.25 « 


138i.84 

146689 

106276 

92J.40 


8.5 oz. 
9.5 " 
8.25 « 
9.25 " 


50 cts. 

80 " 

80 " 

8 « 


3.42 cts. 
6.33 " 
5.50 " 
4.62 " 


3 42-100 cts, 
6 33-100 " 
5 50-100 " 

4 62-100 " 


No. 2 


No. 3 


No. 4 





imprevements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



49 



Each lamp was made to give as much light as 
possible at the commencement of the experiment, 
and the strength of shadows then measured. Nos. 
r, 2, and 3, maintained the same degree of light 
during the whole time of burning. The light 
from No. 4 had perceptibly decreased in 2 hours, 
and, at the close of the experiment, had receded 
upwards of 16 per cent. Consequently, the mean 
quantity of light given during the four hours is 
taken in estimating their relative powers. 

No. 1, (whale oil,) compared with No. 4, (lard.) 
gave 105 per cent, more light, in proportion to its 
cost. 

No. 1, (whale oil,) compared with No. 3, (sperm 
oil,) p-ave 111^ percent, more light, in proportion 
to its", cost. 

No- 1, (whale oil,) compared with No. 2, (sperm 
oil,) gave 75 per cent, more light, in proportion to 
its cost. 

TJie following table shows the expense of burn- 
ing each of the above lamps one hour, omitting 
fractions of mills, and stating the comparative 
quantities of hght in whole numbers. 

No. 1, 8 mills ; light equal to 13. 
No. 2, 15 do do 14. 

No. 3, 13 do do 10. 

No. 4, 11 do do 9. 

The results stated in roimd nmnbers, showing 
the cost of each burning a given time, estimating 
the amount of light, and cost of materials, are as 
follows : 

Whale oil, in solar lamp, argand burner, 100. 

Sperm oil, do do do 175. 

Hog's lard, do do do 205. 

Sperm oil, in carcel, do do 211. 

Much care was taken in weight and measure 
of the materials, and the judgement of several 
persons accustomed to such experiments was 
taken in adjusting the shadows, and the calcula- 
tions we believe to be correct. This einy one can 
verify, as the elements are all stated above. 

We feel justified in recommending the use of 
best lointer-bleached whale oil in the solar argand 
lamp, whereby the best artificial light now in use 
wHl be produced. 

HARRIS, STANWOOD & CO. 
29 Tremo.xt Row, Boston, December, 1842. 

The mode now adopted for the preparation of 
this oil is that of graining the lard in a suitable 
and well-known marmer, by which process the 
separation of the olein from the stearin is render- 
ed more easy. Tliis separetion is effected by press- 
ing the grained matter, enclosed in canvas bags, 
by means of a powerful press of proper construc- 
tion. In this way, all tlie olein or lard oil is driv- 
en out, together with a small portion of marga- 
rin and stearin, not, however, in sufficient quan- 
tity to injure the oil. What remains in the bags 
(the stuff of which, after proper preparation, the 
candles are made) is the white constituent of the 
lard — stearin, with small portions of margarin and 
olein, remaining with it ; the removal of which 
(the press not being able to effect) must, in order 
to procure good candle material, be produced in 
in some other way. To effect this, I have, (as 
before stated,) after much trouble and patient in- 
vestigation, discovered an economical mode, and 
which (as I intend carrying it into practice im- 
mediately) I shall not make known, but will sub- 



stitute therefor that practiced in England, and 
which is found to answer admirably — the pro- 
duct thereof having so handsome an appearance, 
and being of so good a quality as to cause it dif- 
ficult to distingmsh it from the most refined wax. 
This fact of their handsome appearance is con- 
firmed by the following paragraph, cut from a 
paper some days since : — 

"Accidental Poisonlxg. — It is well known 
that a salve, for the cure of chaps and wounds, is 
often made of virgin wax and oil ; and some fa- 
milies, who hve at a distance from an apothecary, 
make this medicine, at the moment it is wanted, 
by taking a wax cahdle and melting it into oil. — 
In employing this remedy, made of a candle, a 
person is said to have been recently poisoned in 
France. The reason of it is this : candles are 
now no longer made of wax, but of suet, from 
which oil has been extracted to grease wools. — 
This suet, in order to form candles, is combined 
with a great quantity of arsenic. It is therefore 
not astonishing that arsenic, which penetrates 
even by friction, can have a poisonous effect 
when applied to the raw flesh." 

The advantage which my mode possesses over 
this is its greater economy, both in cost and time, 
of preparation, wliile the product is equally good 
as that by the English, wliich is as follows : — 
Tallow lard, or the solid part of lard, after the 
separation of its oil or any fat, is boilded with 
quick lime and water in a large vat, by means of 
perforated steam pipes distributed over its bottom. 
After several hours' active boiling, the combination 
becomes sufficiently complete. The stearate thus 
formed is allowed to cool, until it becomes a con. 
Crete mass. It is then to be dug out, transferred to a 
suitable vessel, and decomposed by a sufficient 
quantity of sulphuric acid. This decomposition 
of the soap, says the patentee, should be made in 
a large quantity of water, kept well stirred during 
the operation, and warmed by steam introduced 
in any convenient way. When the mixture has 
stood sufficiently long, the acid of the fat or tal- 
low will rise to the surface, and the water, being 
drawn off, will carry the alkaline or saline mat- 
ters with it ; but if the acids or tallow should re- 
tain any portion of the salts, repeated portions of 
fresh water must be added to it, and the whole 
well agitated, uiatil the acids have become entirely 
freed from alkaline matter. 

The washed mixture of the three acids — stearic, 
margaric and oleic — is next drawn off into tin or 
other suitable pans, and allowed to cool, and then 
reduced to thin shreds by a tallow cutter — an in- 
strument used by tallow chandlers. The next step 
is to encase the crushed mass in canvas or caya 
ban's, and then submit it to the action of a power- 
ful hydi-auJic or the stearic cold process — a macliine 
made for the purpose. By this means a large 
quantity of the oleic acid is expelled, carrying 
with it some little of the margaric. The cakes, 
after considerable pressure, are then taken out, 
and again subjected to the action of steam and 
water ; after wliich, the supernatant stearic acid is 
run off into pans, and cooled. The cakes are 
then reduced to a coarse mealy powder by a rota- 
ry rasping machine, put into strong canvas bags, 
and submitted to the joint action of steam and 
pressure, in a hydraulic press of appropriate con- 
struction, called Maudlay's stearin cold press. 



50 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



By these means, the stearic acid is entirely- 
freed from oleic acid. It is then subjected to a 
final cleansing in a tub with steam, melted, and 
cooled in clean vessels. These cooled masses, 
owing to their crystaline texture, are unfit to be 
. made into candles. It is therefore necessary, in 
some way, to remedy this. The French do so by 
crushing the masses, and pressing with them small 
portions of arsenious acid. This, however, is an 
an injurious and reprehensible admixture, not only 
on account of the liability of such accidents men- 
tioned in a previous paragraph, but because of the 
volatility of the arsenious acid, causing the at- 
mosphere, in a room where these candles have 
been burned, after a short time, to be not only dis- 
"agreeable but deleterious to inhale. 

This assumption of crystaline form I prevent 
without the use of this poisonous substance, mere- 
ly by a proper and peculiar arrangement in the con- 
cluding part of the process. The wick to be used 
in the manufacture of these improved candles is 
to be made of cotton yarn, twisted rather hard, 
and laid in the same manner as wire is sometimes 
coiled round the bass strings of musical instru- 
ments. For this purpose, straight rods or wires 
are to be procured, of suitable lengths and diame- 
ters, according to the intended size of the candle 
about to be made ; and these wires, ha^ang been 
covered with cotton, coiled around them as de- 
scribed, are to be inserted in the candle moulds as 
common wicks are ; and, when the candle is made 
and perfectly hard, the wire is to be withdrawn, 
leaving a hollow cylindrical aperture entirely 
through the middle of the candle. 

I have now given you what information my 
leisure has allowed me to prepare. I could extend 
my remarks, but have not now the time. 

With the hope that this summary will answer 
your purpose, I remain yours, respectfully, 

CAMPBELL MORFIT, 
Manufacturing Analytic Chemist. 

No. 9. 
Washington, January 18, 1843. 

Sir : In answer to your communication of yes- 
terday, I beg leaye to say, that, in obedience to 
instructions received from the general superinten- 
dent of light-houses on the lakes, I procured, in 
the month of November last, a sample of lard oil 
manufactured in Cleveland, which was used in 
the light-house at Cleveland as an experiment. It 
had a fair trial, bcuig placed in the centre lamp ;' 
the others were filled vnth sperm oil. The lard 
oil was found to give as briUiant alight, and bum 
equally well with the sperm. During the night, 
the lamps containing the sperm oil were trimmed 
twice ; the one containing tlie lard oil was not 
trimmed. On examining the lights in the morn- 
ing, at the time for extinguishing the same, the 
lamp containing the lard oil was found burning 
equal to those containing the sperm oil. 

I have no hesitation in saying that I believe 
winter-pressed lard oil will burn equal to winter 
sperm oil. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your 
obedient scrv'ant, 

WILLIAM MILFORD, 
Collector of the Customs, Cleveland, Ohio. 
Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, 

Commissioner of Patents, 



No. 10. 
Cleveland, December 29, 1842. 

Dear Sir : Yours of the 21st is just received. 
In answer to your first query, viz : How much 
lard will a hog make weighing 300 lbs., very fat, 
after taking out the hams and shoulders ? 

I would state that there is a great difi'erence in 
hogs as to their frame and the kind of food they 
have been fatted upon. The average Oliio hogs 
(common breeds) will produce, when tried by 
steam, 50 per centum lard, after deduetmg the 
hams and shoulders. The plan now generally 
adopted is, not to take out the shoulders ; the 
sale for them is limited, and price low ; the cover- 
ing of fat will produce more in lard than the ex- 
pense of curing would warrant. The mixture of 
the China and Berkshires, fed upon potatoes or 
any other vegetable containing starch as a princi- 
pal food, would produce, when very fat, at least 
70 per centum, after taking out only the hams. 

The steaming apparatus is merely a tub with a 
false bottom, perforated with holes, lying about 
two inches above the bottom. The steam is intro- 
duced between the two bottoms, and so entirely 
separates the fat from the cells in which it was 
enclosed that no pressing of scraps is necessary. 
The bones, lean, and scrap, are left on the false 
bottom, and the lard floats on the surface. With 
steam, at a pressure of 5 lbs. to the inch, it will 
require from 18 to 20 hoiu-s to try off" a tubfull of 
any given quantity, steam in proportion of 
course; -60 lbs. pressure would do it in one-third 
the time. The great advantage of steam is, the 
whole of the lard or tallow is produced, and there 
is no danger of burning either. 

The quality of the lard is good, but not equal 
to leaf lard or suet ; the carcass fat does not con- 
tain as much of the concrete principle (stearin.) 
AVhole hog lard cannot be refined and made hard 
without a portion of the oil is extracted. I take 
from 20 to 40 per centum of the oil ; then the ba- 
lance goes through several washings in pure rain 
water by steam, aftey which it is refined lard. 
The expense is not more than one quarter cent per 
pound, but it is of more value to us thon common 
lard, as we have a great deal of trouble and ex- 
pense with it ; and in only extracting a portion of 
the oil, we would lose by ir, did it not command 
a better price in the market, which it should from 
its purity. 

I cannot give you any information about the 
quantity of tallow from beeves, as none have 
been slaughtered in this section for tallow ; they 
(beeves) must also vary very much in the amount 
produced, depending upon their feed, &c. The 
bones are worth at least half a cent per pound to 
calcine. From them ivory black is made, (worth 
2J^ cents per poimd,) by charring them in close 
iron vessels. 

I used to decompose the lard in acid and neu- 
tral salts. When the affinity between the parts 
is destroyed, I separate them by means of canvas 
bags placed in powerful screw presses. If I wish 
to make candles of the residue, the pressure is 
continued imtil all the oil, by this means, is forced 
out. The contents of the bags are then subjected 
to the action of a powerful hydraulic press, and 
the stearin pressed to dryness. 

To produce the winter oil we have to expo«3 
the decomposed lard to the cold, in the same 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



51 



manner that the crude sperm oil undergoes to pro- 
duce the winter-strained oil. Upon analysis, it 
is found that lard oil contains 79 2-10 carbon, and 
pure sperm oil 79 5-10 ; making three-tenths of 
one per centum difference ; the other equivalent 
of hydrogen and oxygen are the same, excepting 
the difference of the three-tenths. For all uses 
(except painting) lard oil has no equal. It burns 
with a strong white light, and is entirely free 
from either smoke or smell. It does not contain 
any gelatine, which makes it a preferable article 
for all kinds of machinery t for wool it answers 
better than the olive oil, which it has superseded 
entirely. The oil of tallow is also well adapted 
for machinery ; for biuniing it is not preferable to 
other oil, on account of its odor. Tallow only 
contains about 28 per centum of oil, whereas 
lard contains on the average G2. The stearin of 
both lard and tallow makes a better and harder 
candle than sperm, and the same amount m 
weight produces a great deal more light. 

Since you were here, the works oftliis company 
have been increased, and are now running 2,000 
poimds per day. Lard is coming in freely ; we 
are paying five cents cash per pound. The oU 
seUs readily at seventy-five cents by the cask, and 
one dollar at retail per gallon, in competition with 
some oil from Cincinnati, which is offered at 33J 
per centum lower. 

My process is so entirely different, and the in- 
gredients I use are so effective, tliat I find no dif- 
ficulty in purifying the oil and lard after it is man- 
ufactured, and in producing a superior article to 
any other. 

Yours, respectfully, 

J. R. STAFFORD, 
Agent Cleveland Lard Oil and Candle Co. 
Hon. H. L. Ellsworth. 

No. 11. 
Mode of manufacturing elaine and stearine from 

lard, ^c, patented by John H. Smith, No. 

122 Front-street, New-York City. 
To all whom it may concern : 

Be it known that I, John H. Smith, oi the 
city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, and 
State of New- York, have invented a new and 
useful improvement in the manner of separating, 
from each other, the elaine and stearine which 
are contained in lard ; by means of which im- 
proved process the operation is much faciUtated, 
and the products are obtained in a high degree of 
purity ; and I do hereby declare that the follow- 
ing is a full and exact description thereof. 

The first process to be performed upon the lard 
is that of boiling, which may be effected either 
by direct application of fire to the kettle, or by 
means of steam ; when the latter is employed, I 
cause a steam tube to descend from a steam 
boiler into the vessel, containing the lard ; this 
tube n^y descend to the bottom of the vessel, and 
be coiled round on said bottom, so as to present a 
large heating surface to the lard, provision being 
made for carrying off the water and waste steam, 
in a manner well known ; but I usually perforate 
this tube with numerous small holes along the 
whole of that portion of it which is submersed 
below the lard, thus allowmg the whole of the 
steam to pass into and through the lard. To 
operate with advantage, \i>,Q vessel in, which the 



boiling is effected should be of considerable ca. 
pacity, holding say from ten to a hundred barrels. 
The length of time required for boiling will vaxj 
much, according to the quality of the lard ; that 
which is fresh may not require to be boiled for 
more than four or five hours, Avhilst that which 
has been long kept may require twelve hours ; it 
is of great importance to the perfecting of the 
separation of the stearine and elaine, that the 
boiling should be continued for a considerable 
period, as above indicated. 

My most important improvfment in the witliin 
described process consists in the employment of 
alcohol, which I mix with the lard in the kettle, 
or boiler, at the commencement of the operation. 
When the lard lias become sufficiently fluid, I 
gradually pour, and stir, into it, about one gallon 
of alcohol, to every eighty gallons of lard, taking 
care to incorporate the two as intimately as pos- 
sible ; and this has the effect of causing a very 
perfect separation of the stearine and elaine from 
each other by the spontaneous granulation of the 
former, which takes place when tlie boiled lard is 
allowed to cool in a state of rest. 

I sometimes combine camphor with the alco 
hoi, dissolving about one-fourth of a poimd in 
each gallon of alcohol wiiich not only gives an 
agreeable odor to the products but appears to co- 
operate with the alcohol to effect the object in 
view ; the camphor, however, is not an essential 
ingredient, and may be omitted. Spirit of lower 
proof than alcohol may be used, but not with 
equal benefit. 

After the boilmg of the lard, with the alcohol, 
has been continued for a sufficient length of time, 
the fire is withdrawn, or the supply of steam cut 
off, and the mass is allowed to cool sufficiently to 
admit of its being laded, or drawn off, into hogs 
heads, or other suitable coolers, where it is to be 
left at perfect rest until it has cooled down, and 
acquired the orduiary temperature of the atmos. 
phere ; as the cooUng proceeds, the granulation 
consequent upon the separation of the stearine 
and elame will take place and become perfect. 
The material is then to be put into bags, and 
pressed moderately, under a press of any suitable 
kind, wliich will cause the elaine to flow out in 
a great state of purity, there not being contained 
within it any appreciable portion of the stearine ; 
this pressure is to be continued until the stearine 
is as dry as it can be made in this way. 

The masses of the solid material thus obtained 
are to be remelted, and in this state to be poured 
into boxes, or pans, of a capacity of ten or twelve 
gallons, and allowed to form lumps, which I de. 
nominate blocks ; these when removed from the 
vessels, arc piled, or stacked, up for a week or ten 
days, more or less, the room containing it should 
be at a temperature of nearly eighty, which will 
cause a sweating, or oozLng, from the blocks, and 
they will unprove in quahty ; the blocks are then 
to be rolled in clothes, or put into bags and these 
placed between plates and submitted to very heavy 
pressure by means of a hydrauUc press. After 
this pressure it is brought again into the form of 
blocks, and these are to be cut up by means of 
revolving, or other knives, or cutters. The pieces 
thus obtained are to be put into bags, and sub. 
jected to the action of hot water, or steam, in a 
press until it becomes hard enough to be manu- 



52 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



factured into candles, or put up for other purposes 
to which it may be desired to apply it. 

The manner of subjecting it to the action of 
heated water, or of steam, is to place the bags 
containing the stearine in a box, or chest, into 
which heated water, or steam, maybe introduced, 
but not to such extent as to fuse the stearine. A j 
follower is then to be forced against the bags i 
contained in the box or chest, and moderate pres- 
sure made upon them ; the material will now be 
found to have acquired all the required hardness, 
and to possess a -wax-like consistence, such as| 
would generally cause it to be mistaken for wax. j 
I am aware that alcohol has been used for the ' 
purpose of separating elaine and stearine from : 
each other in analytical cliemistry ; but the lard, 
or other fatty matter consisting of these sub. i 
stances, has, in this case, been dissolved in the j 
heated alcohol, and the whole has been suffered 
to cool together ; this process would be altogether 
inapplicable to manufacturing purposes, as the 
cost would exceed the value of the product. In 
my manufacturing process, instead of dissolving 
the lard in alcohol, I add a small proportionate 
quantity of the latter to the former, the whole of 
which is driven off at an earlj' period of the ebul- 
lition, but by its presence, or catal}i;ically, dis- 
poses the elaine or stearine,' to separate from 
each other, which they do, after long boiling and 
subsequent cooling. I do not, therefore, claim 
the use of alcohol in separating elaine and stear- 
ine from each other, by dissolving the fatty mat- 
ter in heated alcohol, and by subsequently cool- 
ing the solution ; but what I do claim as my in- 
vention, and wisii to secure by letters patent, is 
the within described method of effectively pro- 
moting their separation or by incorporating alco- 
hol, or highly rectified spirits, with the lard in 
small proportionate quantities, say one gallon, 
more or less, of such alcohol, or spirit, to eighty 
gallons of lard, and then boiling tlie mixture for 
Beveral hours, by which boiUng, the whole of the 
alcohol will be driven off, but will have left the 
elaine and stearine with a disposition to sepa- 
rate from each other, on subsequent cooling, as 
herein indicated and made known. 

JOHN H. SMITH. 
Witness: 
T. H. Patterson, 
H. S. Fitch. 

No. 12. 

Erie, (Pennsvlvania,) January IJ, 1843. 

Dear Sir : Your favor of the 1st ultimo, 

making inquiries in relation to the culture, use, 

and comparative value of rape seed in this section 

of coimtry, came to hand by due course of mail. 

From the best information I have been able to 
obtain, I reply to your interrogatories, as follows : 

1st. Rape seed is raised in this section. 

2d. Rich ground will produce from 25 to 40 
bushels per acre. 

3d. Ten quarts of oil may be obtained from a 
bushel of seed. 

4th. Oil cake is worth per bushel about the 
same as oats. 

5th. The oil is used in burning, and in the 
manufacture of woolen oil cloth, »fcc, and is 
worth from seventy-five cents to one dollar per 
gallon. 



6th. The seed should be sown about the 25th 
September, three pints to the acre. The ground 
should be w^ell cultivated, and such as does not 
heave up ; harvest in June following. It should 
be cut with the sickle when the stock is yellow, 
before it becomes dead ripe, to prevent a waste 
of seed. Let it lie in swatiie about eight days in 
dry wcatlicr, until the seed becomes black and 
shells easily. It is then put into a wagon, with a 
cloth in it, to prevent a waste of the seed. Take 
it to a barn witli a_ tight floor, and thresh the 
seed ; to be spread about four inches thick, and 
turned every day for eight days, to prevent mould- 
ing. Then it is ready for the manufacture of oil. 
After the oil is pi-essed, it must be clarified by 
chemical process, the same as other oil. 

7th. It will not answer for painting. 

8th. The stem is of no use, except for manure. 

9 th. Cake answers well for hogs, but better for 
sheep. 

Very respectfully, your obedient sei-vant, 

A. SCOTT, P. M. 
Hon. Henrv L. Ellsworth, 

Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 



No. 13. 
Mode of fencing and ditching, <^-c. 
A good embankment, three feet high, Avith a 
ditch, furnishing a drain for surplus water, is 
made with astonishing rapidity. The embank- 
ment affords a foundation lor a short post to hold 
two or three rails, which is found sufficient either 
to enclose or exclude cattle. The machine to 
make the embankment need not cost over two 
dollars, including labor and materials. It may 
be constructed by any farmer with the help of an 
axe and auger. It seems almost incredible that 
two planks 12 feet long, united at an angle of 18 
or 2U degrees, can throw up dirt with such fa- 
cility. The wedge and inclined plane seem 
united, and the only difficulty is, to ascertain at 
what angle dirt will slide. The angle above 
mentioned will answer in most soils. If the angle 
should prove too obtuse, the brace in the rear 
miglit be so formed as to graduate tiic scraper as 
desii-ed. If the planks are extended in length, 
the bight of the embankment may be increased, 
or the dirt thrown further from the furrow, if the 
object is to turnpike the soil or to grade it for rails ; 
and it appears that the machine will greatly lessen 
the expense of makmg roads on lands where 
large roots form no obstacle to the common 
plough, which precedes this scraper. To expedite 
turning at the end of the fmTow, a bent lever, (a 
crooked joint will answer,) affixed about the cen- 
tre, will raise the machine so as to turn on a 
point, and much friction may be saved by tack- 
ing to the land side a few inches of plank at the 
front and rear, or by excavating the land side in 
the middle, if made from a sohd stick. 

A plough and scraper might be combined, but 
the same strength in two teams will be more de- 
sirable. When land is dear, the objection might 
arise that too much is wasted. 'I'his, however, 
wiU have no weight in the West, where land is 
plenty. Indeed, some in Europe have urged the 
benefit of sloping embankments, as they increase 
the surface for grazing, which is an admitted fact, 
the sides of a hill being greater than its base. An 
excavation is made on l»th sides of the embank. 



tmprovements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



55 



ment. The ditch is eighteen inches only, and the 
embankment eighteen inches above the common 
surface, making an elevation from the bottom of 
the ditch, perpendicularly, of three feet, and giv- 
ing a slope at 40 degrees, of about four feet — the 
slope, in some soils, must not be over 30 degrees, 
which will depend upon the soil. Less than this 
would expose the bank to crumble by the frost, 
and more would make the acclivity so small as 
to permit cattle to ascend it. Nor is the improve- 
ment in making the embankment alone worthy of 
special notice. The posts are bored with despatch 
by one or more augers propelled by hand or horse, 
power. The augers arc two and a half inches, 
and these, by two apertures, make a mortise of 
five by two and a half; but the second hole is 
bored so as to cut the circumference of the first, 
to lessen the chip between the two, which is easily 
removed by a chisel or hatchet. The rails are 
sharpened by a circular saw, by cutting one side 
so that when two rails are brought together, they 
just fit the mortise. The lap of the rails is about 
six inclies, and makes a neat appearance ; addi- 
tional strength is given by pinning the upper rail. 
If rails are cut twelve feet three inches, four 

1 section, 640 acres, 4 miles, cost ,'i^250 00, which is per acre. 



h 


do. 


320 


do. 


3 do. 


do. 


187 50, 


do. 


■} 


do. 


160 


do. 


2 do. 


do. 


125 00, 


do. 


i 


do. 


80 


do. 


li do. 


do. 


93 75, 


do. 


1-lG 


do. 


40 


do. 


1 do. 


do. 


62 50, 


do. 


1-32 


do. 


20 


do. 


1 do. 


do. 


46 87, 


do. 


1-64 


do. 


10 


do. 


i do. 


do. 


35 25, 


do. 



hundred and forty panels will make a mile offence. 
This will determine the number of posts which 
are inserted in a furrow when the fence is to be 
made six inches deep, before the ditch is com- 
menced ; this will save all excavation for posts by 
hand ; and, when the embankment is formed, the 
posts will be two feet in the ground. 

If the team can travel twelve miles per day, 
this will give six passages on each side of the 
embankment, and completes one mile in extent in 
a day. 

I will give an estimate of fencing different 
quantities' of land. The size and shape of the 
tract materially effects the cost per acre. 
2 teams, J|2 50 each, one day,- (one 

with plough and one with scraper).. $5 00 
1,320 rails sharpened and delivered, at 

Mr. Robinson's estimate, two cents 26 40 

440 posts, bored complete, three cents 13 60 

Setting posts and puttmg in rails five 

days 5 00 

Cost per mile ..50 00 

Add for contingencies twenty-five per cent.l2 50 

62 50 

$0 39 

58i 

78 

1 17 

1 56 

2 39 

3 12i 



When roads or unoccupied land do not adjoin, 
the expenses will be reduced, since adjoining pro- 
prietors are bound to pay if they improve one- 
half the value of the fence. 

This estimate is made from common prairie 
land, which is not more tlian three miles from 
timber, and where the timber is good for splitting, 
and not over ten dollars per acre, and where the 
labor of mauling rails does not exceed seventy- 
five cents per hundred. 

A sketch of the ditch, fence, jails, scraper, and 
augers, is given. Augers, with sliding cutters, 
are decidedly preferable. Sec plate I, figures 1 
to 9. 

A very simple machine for bormg posts may 
be seen by referring to figm-e 13, plate II. It 
may be constructed by an ordinary laborer. Be- 
tween the uprights the post to be bored is fas- 
tened. The auger is changed by raising the 
piece of scantling, which holds down the same, 
and rims between two pieces of scantling fas- 
tened at one end by a liinge of leather or iron and 
at the other by a pin. Tlie holes are made to ac- 



1 commodate the wishes of the fence-maker, as to 
the number and distance of the rails. A 2^ inch 
auger is recommended, as this witli two holes 
will make a mortise 5 by 2^ inches. Any ordi- 
nary auger \\'\\\ answer, if a crank is affixed to 
the same. The simpUcity and utility of this ma- 
chine will recommend itself. 



PLATE I. 

Fig. 1. Fence. 

Fig. 2. Rails sharpened. 

Fig. 3. Auger with cutters. 

Fig. 4. Holes bored. 

Fig. 5. Post, ditch and embankment. 

Figs. 6 and 7. Views of the scraper. 

Figs. 8 and 9. Views of the plough. 

Fig 10. Surface of teli ground. 

PLATE II. 

Fig. 10. Cheap wood mill. 
Fig. 11. End view of iron 
Fig. 12. Front view of iron mill. 
Fig. 13. Post-boring machine. 



PLATE 1. 
Fig. 1. 



=1 



^ 



Kg-rs' 



X 



::^. 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



Fis. 6. 




Fig. 3 



^QD- 



flll\UII'V"'"""""""'""' 



Fig. 7 
Fig. 5 



Fig. 4. 




Fig. 8. 




PLATE II. 

Fis. 10. 




Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



5S 




Fig. 12. 




Fig. 13. 




No. 14. 
Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., (Indiana,) 
January 20, 1843. 

Dear Sir : Thejplan proposed in several of your 
communications for ditching and fencing the 
Western prairies, I feel confident from experi- 
ment, will prove eminently successful. In tliis 
assertion I am sustained by the opinion of many 
distinguished farmers in tliis country, who have 
examined a " scraper" or " ditcher," modeled on 
the plan you recommend, and have also witiaessed 
its operations. 

A machine designed for similar purposes, but 
manufactured and worked at a much greater cost, 
has been extensively used during the past summer 
in the northern counties of this State, and its em- 
ployment, as far as I learn, has been attended 
with signal success. 

Fof ordinary purposes, your ditcher will be pre- 
ferable, costing as it does only two or three dollars, 
and requiring only a comparatively small outlay 
of labor. The cost of the machine above referred 
to, as used in the northern portion of this State, 
is several hundred dollars, and it is complicated 
in its structure. 

The free use of ditching machines on the prai- 
ries and in the construction of roads will add 
thousands of dollars yearly to the value of West- 
ern lands. Our farmers seem determined to as- 
certain the utility of these inventions by a thor- 
ough trial. 

With sentiments of respect yours truly, 

H. W. ELLSWORTH. 

Hon. Henry L. Eljusworth. 



No. 15. 
Plan of cheap cottages. 
After selecting a suitable spot of ground, as 
near the place of building as practicable, let a 
circle of ten feet or more be described. Let the 
loam be removed, and the clay dug up one foot 
thick, or, if clay is not found on the spot, let it be 
carted in to that depth. Any ordinary clay will 
answer. Tread this clay over with i cattle, and 
add some rftraw cut six or eight inches long. Af- 
ter the'elay is well tempered with working it with 
the cattle, the material is duly prepared for the 
making of brick. A mould is then formed of 
plank, of the size of the brick desired. In Eng- 
land, they are usually made 18 inches long 1 
foot wide, and 9 inclies thick. I have found the 
more convenient size to be 1 foot long, 7 inches 
wide, and 5 inches thick. The mould should 
have a bottom. The clay is then placed in the 
moulds in the same manner that brick moulds are 
ordinarily fiUed. A wire or piece of iron hoop 
will answer very well for striking off the top. — 
One man will mould about as fast as another can 
carry away, two moulds being used by him. — 
The bricks are placed upon the level ground, 
where they are sufTered to dry two days, tiorning 
them up edgewise the second day, and then packed 
in a pile, protected from the rain, and left to dry 10 
or 12 days, during which time the foundation of 
the building can be prepared. If a cellar is desi- 
red, this must be formed of stone or brick, one 
foot above the surface of the ground. For cheap 
buildings on the prairie, wood sills, 12 or 14 inch- 
es wide, may be laud on piles or stones. This will 



56 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



form a good superstructure. Where lime and 
small stones abound, grout made of those mate, 
rials (lime and stones) will answer very well, 

In all cases, however, before commencing the 
walls for the first story, it is very desirable, as 
well in this case as in walls of brick, to lay a sin- 
gle course of slate ; this will intercept the damp- 
ness so often rising in the walls of brick houses. 
The wall is laid by placing the brick lengthwise, 
thus making the wall one foot thick. Ordinary 
clay, such as is used for clay mortar, will suffice, 
though a weak mortar of sand and lime, when 
these articles are cheap, is recommended as af- 
fording a more adhesive material for the plaster. 
The wall may safely be carried up one story, or 
two or three stories ; the division walls may be 7 
inches, just the width of the brick. The door 
and window frames being inserted as the wall 
proceeds, the building is soon raised. The roof 
may be shingles or thatch. In either case, // 
should iirojccl over the sides of the house, and 
also over the ends, at least two feet, to guard the 
loall from vertical rains. The exterior wall is 
plastered with good lime mortar, and then with a 
second coat pebble-dashed. The inside is plas- 
tered without dashing. The floor may be laid 
with oak boards, slit, 5 or G inches wide, and laid 
down without jointing or planing, if they are 
rubbed over with a rough stone after the rooms 
are finished. Doors of a cheap and neat appear- 
ance may be made by taking two single boards of 
the length or width of the doors ; placing these 
vertically, they will fill the space. Put a wide 
batten on the bottom and a narrow one on the 
top, with strips on the side, and a strip in the 
middle. Tliis door will be a batten door, but pre- 
senting two long panels on one side and a smooth 
surface on the other. If a porch or verandah is 
wanted, it may be roofed with boards laid with light 
joints and covered with a thick paper dipped in 
tar, and then adding a good coat, after sprinkHng 
it with sand from a sand-box or otlier dish with 
small holes. 

Houses built in this way arc drj^, warm in win- 
ter, and cool in summer, and furnisii no retreat for 
vermin. Such houses can be made !^y common 
laborers, if a little carpenter's work is excepted, 
in a very short time, with a small outlay for ma- 
terials, exclusive of floors, windows, doors and 
roof. 

The question will naturally arise, Will the wall 
stand against the rain and frost ? I answer, they 
have stood well in Europe, and the Hon. Mr. 
Poinsett remarked to me that he had seen them 
in South America, after having been erected 300 
years. Whoever has noticed the rapid absorp- 
tion of water by a brick that has been burned, 
will not wonder why brick walls arc damp. The 
burning makes the brick porous, while the un- 
burnt brick is less absorbent ; but it is not pro- 
posed to present the unbumt brick to the weather. 
Whoever has erected a builchng with merchant- 
able brick will at once perceive the large number 
of soft and yellow brick, partially burned, that it 
contains — brick that would soon yield to the 
mouldering influence of frost and storms. Such 
brick are, however, placed within, beyond the 
reach of rain, and always kept dry. A good cabin 
is made by a single room 20 feet square. A bet- 
ter one is 18 feet wide and 24 feet long, cutting 



off" 8 feet on one end for two small rooms, 98 by 
each. 

How easy could a settler erect such a cabin on 
the Western prairie, where clay is usually found 
about 15 inches below the surface, and where 
stone and lime are often both very cheap. The 
article of brick for chimneys is found to be quite 
an item of expense in wood-houses. In these 
mud houses no brick are needed, except for the 
top of the chimneys, the oven, and casing of the 
fire-place — though this last might be well dis- 
pensed with. A cement, to put around the chim- 
neys, or to fill any other crack, is easily made by 
a mixture of one part of sand, two of ashes, and 
three of clay. This soon hardens, and will re- 
sist the weather. A little lard or oil may be 
added, to make the composition still harder. 

Such a cottage will be as cheap as a log cabin, 
less expensive than pine buildings, and durable 
for centuries. I have tried the experiment in 
this city, by erecting a building 18 by 54 feel, 
two stories high, adopting the different sugges- 
tions now made. Althougii many doubted the 
success of the undertaking, all now admit it has 
been very successful, and presents a convenient 
and comfortable building, that appears well to 
public view, and offers a residence combining as 
many advantages as a stone, brick, or wood house 
presents. I will add what Loudon says in his 
most excellent work, the Encyclopaedia of Agri- 
culture, pp. 74 and 75 : 

" The great art in building an economical cot- 
tage is to employ the kind of materials and labor 
which are cheapest in the given locality. In al- 
most every part of the world- the cheapest arti- 
cle of which the walls can be made will be 
found to be the earth on which the cottage stands, 
and to make good walls from the earth is the 
principal part of the rustic or primitive builder. — 
Soils, with reference to building, may be divided 
into two classes : clays, loams, and all such soils 
as can neither be called gravels nor sands, and 
sands and gravels. The former, whether they 
are stiff or fi-ee, rich or poor, mixed with stones 
or free from stones, may be formed into walls in 
one of these modes, viz : in the pise manner, by 
lumps moulded in boxes, and by compressed 
blocks. Sandy and gravelly soils may always be 
made into excellent walls, by forming a frame of 
boards, leaving a space between the boards of tlie 
intended thickness of the wall, and filling this 
with gravel mixed with lime mortar, or, if this 
cannot be got, with mortar made of clay and 
straw. ^ 

" In all cases, when walls, cither of this class 
or the former, are built, the foundations should be 
of stone or brick, and they should be earned up 
at least a foot above the upper surface of tlie plat- 
form. 

" We shall here commence by giving one of 
the simplest modes of construction, from a work 
of a very excellent and highly estimable mdivid- 
ual, Mr. Denson, of Waterbeach, Cambridge- 
shire, the author of the Peasant's voice, who built 
his own cottage in the manner described below : 
" Mode of building the mud walls of cottages 
in Cambridgeshire. — After a laborer has dug a 
sufficient quantity of clay for his purpose, he 
works it up with straw ; he is then proaided with 
a frame eighteen inches in length, six deep, and 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



57 



from nine to twelve inches in diameter. In this 
frame he forms his lumps, in the same man- 
ner that a brlckmukcr forms his bricks i they 
are then packed up to dry by the weather ; that 
done, they are fit for the use, as a substitute for 
bricks. On laying the foundation of a cottage, 
a few layers of brick are necessary, to prevent 
the lumps from contracting a damp from the 
earth. The fireplace is lined and the oven is built 
with bricks. I have known cottagers, where 
they could get the grant of a piece of ground to 
build on for themselves, erect a cottage of this 
description at a cost from ;C15 to £30. I exam- 
ined one that was nearly completed, of a superior 
order : it contained two good lower rooms and a 
chamber, and was neatly thatched with straw. — 
It is a warm, firm, and comfortable building, far 
superior to the one I live in ; and my opinion is, 
that it will last for centuries. The lumps are laid 
with mortar, they are then plastered, and on the 
outside once roughcast, which is done by throwing 
a mixture of water, lime, and small stones, against 
the walls, before the plaster is dry, which gives 
them a very handsome appearance. The cottage 
I examined, cost £33, and took nearly one thou- 
sand lumps to complete it. A laborer will make 
that number in two days. The roofs of cottages 
of this description are precisely the same as when 
built with bricks or with a wooden frame. Cow- 
house sheds, garden walls, and partition fence, 
are formed mth tlic same materials ; but in all 
cases the tops are covered with straw, which the 
thatchers perform in a very neat manner." 

Denson's Peasant's Voice, p. 31. 

No. 16. 
Statement of duties now payable on iinports by 

land or inland navigation, into the port of St. 

John's, L. C.,froni the United States; also, a 

statement of prohibited and free goods, March, 

1842. 

Articles prohibited. — xA.rms, ammunition, or 
utensils of war ; gunpowder ; blubber ; base or 
counterfeit coin ; books, first composed or writ- 
ten, or printed in the United Kingdom, and re- 
printed in any other, imported for sale, except 
books not re-printed in the United Kingdom witli- 
in twenty years ; fish oil ; train oil ; fish, dried 
or salted ; fins or skins, the f)roduce of creatures 
living in the sea ; tea. 

Articles free of duty. — Beef, Iresh or salted; 
beans ; peas ; Indian corn ; grain of all kinds ; 
flour ; fish, fresh ; live stock of all kinds ; gar- 
den seeds ; potatoes ; pork, fresh or salted ; pack- 
ages, containing merchandise subject to duty. 

Articles subject to the duty of five per cent, ster- 
ling. — Ashes, pot or pearl ; bread and biscuit ; 
cotton ; wool ; diamonds ; flax and tow ; fruit 
and vegetables, green ; hemp ; hams and bacon ; 
hay and straw ; raw liides ; drugs ; meal ; mut- 
ton, fresh ; all fresh meat not herein declared to 
be free ; rice, rosin, tallow, shingles, staves, ve- 
neers, and mahogany ; wood and lumber of all 
descriptions ; cassia ; spirits tiu"pentine ; gum 
shellac ; gum copal ; varnish ; palm oil ; bitter 
almonds ; gums ; isinglass ; chemical oils ; red 
and white lead ; sago ; tamarmds. 

Articles subject to the duty of seven and one- 
half per cent., with addition of ten per cent, 
{ad valorem) to invoice. — Anchovies ; alabaster ; 
V 



argol ; aniseed ; amber ; almonds ; brimstone ; 
I bartago ; box- wood ; currants ; capers ; cascucoo ; 
cummin seed ; coral ; cork ; cinnabar ; dates, ev- 
cry stone ; fruits, preserved in sugar or brandy ; 
figs ; honey ; iron, in bars, unwrought ; pig iron ; 
juniper berries ; mccnso of frankincense ; lava 
and Malta stone, for building ; lentils ; medals ; 
marble, rough and worked ; mosaic work ; musk ; 
macaroni ; nuts of all kinds ; ostrich feathers ; 
oil of olives ; oil of almonds , orris I'oot ; ochres ; 
orange buds and peel ; ohves ; pitch ; pickles ; 
paintings; prints; pazzalona ; pumice stone; 
punk ; parmesan cheese ; pearls ; precious stones, 
except diamonds^ quicksilver ; raisins ; sausa- 
ges ; sponge ; tar, turpentine ; Vermillion ; ver. 
micelli ; whetstones ; gum ; essences of berga- 
mot, lemons, roses, citron, oranges, lavender, and 
rosemary. 

Articles subject to the duty of fifteen per cent, 
ad valorem. — All goods, wares, and merchandize, 
not otherwise specified in tarifl", and not herein 
declared to be free of duty. We mention a few 
of the imports paying fifteen per cent, duty: — ' 
combs, cheese, butter, lard, leather, allspice, pep. 
per, ginger, pimento, hardware, castings, clay, 
earthen ware, wooden ware, chairs, furniture, 
beds, baskets, worsted and woollen manufactures, 
oysters, machinery, medicines, furs and skins, 
jewelry, cutlery, brooms, brushes, bristles, cemary 
seed, &c. 

Articles subject to the twenty per cent, ad val- 
orem. — Cotton, and cotton manufactures ; glass, 
and glass manufactures ; sugar candy ; soap ; 
cigars. 

Articles subject to the duty of thirty per cent, 
ad valorem. — Books ; paper, and paper manufac 
tures ; clocks and watches ; leather manufactures ; 
linen, and hnen manufactures; musical instru. 
ments ; wires, of all sorts ; silk, and silk manu- 
factures. 

Articles subject to different duties. — Salt, per 
280 lbs. 2s. Gd. sterling ; indigo, Gd. sterling per 
pound, or fifteen per cent. ; tobacco, leaf, Id. ster- 
ling per pound, or fifteen per cent. ; tobacco, man- 
ufactured, 2d. sterling per pound, or twenty per 
cent. ; snuft', 2d. sterling per pound, or twenty 
per cent. ; sugar, refined, 2d. sterling per pound, 
or twenty per cent.; sugar, raw, Id. sterling per 
pound, or 5s. sterlmg per cwt. ; coffee, green, 2d. 
sterling per pound, and 5s. sterling per cwt. ; cof- 
fee, ground, id. sterlmg per pound, and 5s. ster- 
ling per cwt. ; coffee, roasted, 5s. sterling per 
cwt., and 5 per cent. ; cocoa, 55. sterling per 
cwt., and 5 per cent. ; molasses, Id. sterling per 
gallon, and 4s. 6d. sterling per cwt. ; sirups, Id. 
sterling per gallon, and Is. 6d. sterling per cwt., 
or fifteen per cent. ; Madeira, in casks. Is. ster- 
ling per gallon, and £7 sterling per tun of 250 
gallons. All other wines, except French, in 
wood, 6d. sterling per gallon, and £7 sterhng per 
ton ; wines, French, in wood, 6d. sterling per 
gallon, or 7^ per cent. ; wines, in bottle, £7 7s. 
sterling per ton, and 7^ per cent, and Is. sterling 
per dozen bottles ; brandy, Geneva, cordials, or 
other spirits, except rum, not sweetened, and not 
exceeding the strength of proof by " Sykes's hy. 
drometer," Is. Od. sterling per gallon, and so in 
proportion for any greater strength than the 
strengtii of proof ; rum, sweetened, 25. 7d. ster- 
luig per gallon ; rum, not sweetened, and not ex- 



58 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



ceeding the strength of proof by " Sykes's hy- 
drometer," Is. 6d. sterling per gallon, and bo m 
proportion for any greater strength than the 
strength of proof. 

Bonds are allowed on all provincial duties when 
amounting to JE50 and upwards, with conditions 
for payment at 6 months from the date of such 
bond, if the same shall be dated on or before the 
Ist day of September; and if dated after tlie 1st 
day of September, then it becomes due on the 1st 
day of April next ensuing. 

Any information relatmg to the trade between 
the province and the United States, through this 
port, wdl be cheerfully supplied by addressing the 
undersigned. 

JASON C. PIERCE &, SON, 

Forwarders and Commission Merchants, 

Steamboat and Custom-House Agents, 

Saint John's, L. C. 

No. 17. 
Customs, St. Johns, L. C. 

December 28, 1842. 
f^ Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of 23d inst., requesting I would reply to 
questions therein contained relative to what 
changes have taken place in our provincial duties 
on goods imported from the United States, on 
wheat, flour, beef, pork, lard, &c. In reply there- 
to, and to enable you to have a more correct 
knowledge of what the duties will be after the 5th 
of July next than I could give you in a letter, I 
now beg leave to enclose you a number of Neil- 
son's Quebec Gazette, containing a summary of 
the trade act of the British possessions abroad, 
which goes into operation after that date. In the 
margin I have put down the additional duty im- 
posed by our provincial statutes on many of the 
articles, viz : — 

■ On butter and cheese there is an additional duty 
of 5 per cent. 

Coffee, 2 pence per pound, if green ; roasted or 
burnt, 5 per cent. 

Coffee, 4 pence per pound, if ground. 
Cocoa, 5 per cent. 
Molasses, Is. 6d. per cwt. 
Sugar, umefined, 1 penny per pound ; refined 2 
pence per pound. 

Teas, 3 pence per pound. 
Rum, 6 pence per gallon, hydrometer proof. 
Other spirits and cordials, Is. 7d. per gallon. 
Salt, for every barrel of 280 pounds, 2. 6d. 
On leaf tobacco, 1 penny per pound. 
Manufactured tobacco, 2 pence per poimd. 
Madeira wine. Is. per gallon. 
Other wines, 6 pence per gallon. 
All other articles charged with an ad valorem 
duty of 15 per cent., 7 per cent, and 4 per cent., 
an additional duty of 5 per cent. 

In the table of exemptions, all the articles 
marked >^ are subject to a duty of 5 per cent, by 
provincial acts. The others not marked X are 
entirely free. In the last session of our Provincial 
Parliament, an act was passed imposing a duty of 
3 shillings per quarter on wheat, which act has 
been reserved for Her Majesty's sanction; if 
sanctioned, it goes into operation on the 5th July 
next. I cannot state positively whether American 
produce, after payment of duty on importation in 
Canada, wDl be admitted into England as Canada 



produce. But, from the decision of the Commis- 
sioners of the Customs, lately given, that hams 
so admitted could be imported into Great Britain 
as Canada hams, I should conceive it would ap- 
ply to all American produce. I am of the opinion 
the question wDl be finally settled in the next ses- 
sion of the Imperial Parliament. 

At present, teas, oil, blubber and skins, the pro- 
duce of fish and creatures Uving in the sea, of 
foreign fishing, are prohibited, but wiU be admit, 
ted after the 5th July next. 

The duties are all paid in sterling money, at the 
rate of 4s. 4d. to the dollar — equal to 5s. Id. Ca- 
nada currency, or nearly 102 cents. The imperi- 
al duties are levied on the amo'jnt of invoice cost 
in the United States, and adding thereto 10 per 
cent. For instance : should the amount of in- 
voice be jCIOO, the duty is charged on £110. The 
provincial duties are charged on the amount of 
the invoice, without the additional 10 per cent. 

It is supposed there will be some material 
changes, at the next meeting of our Provincial 
Legislature, in the tariff of duties imposed by 
them. There will, no doubt, be a reduction of 
the duty on tea, and an additional duty on some 
other articles ; however, they cannot reduce the 
duties imposed by the Imperial Parliament, though 
they have the power of adding to them. 

The foregoing information and explanations 
will only apply to tlie trade of the two countries 
after the 5th of July next. Messrs. Jason C. 
Pierce &. Son, or Mr. Isaac Coote, forwarding 
merchants of this place, who have prepared a tariff 
of duties (for the information of their correspon- 
dents) now in force, would, no doubt, forward 
them to you, on application to them ; or might 
obtain them from some of their friends in Burling, 
ton. 

Any information I could give you I would 
cheerfully do, and have the honor to be your very 
obedient servant, 

W. MACRAE, Collector. 

William P. Briggs, Esq. 



No. 18. 
Correspondence of the Journal of Commerce. 
Liverpool, September, 1842. 
Our new tariff being so favorable to the intro- 
duction of American provisions into England that 
we have the prospect of an extensive and steady 
import of various articles of produce from thence, 
we would tluow out, for the guidance of those 
who contemplate engaging in the preparation of 
provisions for our market, some suggestions which 
we conceive to be important, and a compliance 
with which, will operate favorably to the interests 
of those engaged in the trade. We are aware that 
the shipment of beef and pork to England this 
year, has turned out a very unprofitable operation, 
and, in consequence, many persons feel discour- 
aged from prosecuting the trade, having got the 
impression that a prejudice exists in the coimtry 
trade against American provisions. 

Such is not the case, however. It is true 
that those articles have been almost unsaleable in 
our market, but the reason is found in the fact of 
their entire want of adaptation to our tastes, and 
their general inferiority to what we liave been in 
the habit of receiving from Ireland and Hamburg. 
Of this inferiority there is sufficient evidence in 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



59 



the fact, that while Irish pork has been selling 
freely at 70s. a 75s., the American has been with 
difficulty disposed of at a price equal to 48s., duty 
paid. 

This inferiority, as regards pork, arises princi- 
pally from the hogs being generally fed on beech 
nuts, or other wild feeding, which makes the 
meat soft and oily ; but it is partly owing, also, 
to the hurried way in which provisions have been 
cured and packed, (especially in tlic western 
country,) and to the use of an inferior salt, quite 
unsuitable to the purpose. We would urge strong- 
ly on shippers the propriety of bestowing more 
care on the selection and preparation of pork for 
' our market in future, as a soft and inferior article 
is almost imsaleable with us, and the shipment of 
such will be certainly productive of loss to the 
owner. These remarks apply with equal force to 
beef, which has been inferior, not only in conse- 
quence of insufficient fattening, but also from 
being very roughly handled. The form, too, in 
which both articles have been cut, has tended to 
occasion this depreciation in our market ; and al- 
though it may not appear of sufficient conse- 
quence to affi3ct their value, yet, taking into con- 
sideration that our buyers have been accustomed 
to a certain cut for many years, it is reasonable 
that their tastes should be consulted. Of one 
thing we feci assured, that shippers will find it to 
their advantage to fall in witli the requirements 
of our market. 

We think it unnecessar}^ to give in detail the 
process of curing followed in Ireland, as the dif- 
ference in climate may require some peculiarity 
in the mode to be adopted in .4merica, but we 
furnish particulars which we consider most im- 
portant. Bacon is made from pigs of any size, 
from 160 pounds up to the heaviest weights, and 
in the form cither of long or short middles. 

In making the former, the head and hams are 
cut off, the remaining bone is removed, taking 
as little of the lean meat off with the ribs as pos- 
sible. The shoulder blade being taken out, the 
loose parts are cut off, so that no porket is left to 
disfigure the bacon ; the edges are squared and 
trimmed, all the soft and flabby fat being re- 
moved. Short middles are also fi-ee from bone, 
and differ from them only in having the shoulders 
taken off. Tliis cut, being most esteemed with 
us, always commands 2s. per cwt. advance on 
the price of long middles. Bacon is always 
cured in dry salt, and, when shipped to the Eng- 
lish market, is packed with fresh salt, in Russia 
mats or coarse linen cloth, in bales weighing from 
three to four cwt. each. Boxes made to fit the 
size of tlie middles would suit equally well, if 
that mode of packing is found cheaper. 

Hams are cut round and well trimmed, all the 
soft fat being taken off. Tliey are sured in dry 
salt also, and, after being washed and well dried, 
(without being smoked,) are packed in hogs- 
heads with the husks of oats, bran, cut straw, or 
any other dry material of like character, wliich 
will absorb the moisture produced by sweating. 
The shanks are cut off above the knee-joint with 
a saw, and not with a cleaver, as practiced now 
in America. 

Mess pork is made from hogs weighing from 
160 to 2'20 lbs., and is cut in pieces as nearly as 
possible of 4 lbs. each. The whole hog is used, 



with the exception of the head, feet, and legs to 
the knee-joint. When packed for exportation, it 
is put in barrels containing fifty pieces, weighing 
200 lbs. with St. Ubcs' or Turk's island salt, and 
in new pickle. 

Mess beef is made from fat cattle only, and is 
cut in pieces of 8 lbs. each, the whole carcass, 
with the exception of the head, feet, and legs, 
being used. It is packed with St. Ubes' or Turk's 
island salt, in a new pickle, in casks containing 
38 pieces, weighing 300 lbs. The mode of curing 
both beef and pork is to pack the pieces in dry 
salt, in large casks or vats, which are then filled 
up with pickle, having just so much saltpetre in 
it as will give the meat a color. At the end of 24 
hoius, or so soon as the salt and saltpetre have 
taken effect, and the blood remaining in the meat 
has been purged out, it is put in a new pickle, in 
which it remains until packed for exportation. 
The quality of the meat is injured by the use of 
i saltpetre in any pickle after the first. The casks 
must be perfectly water-tight, and have two iron 
hoops on each end. 

All pickle is made of such strength that an 
egg will float in it, and, after being allowed to 
settle, the scum is taken off the surface. Beef 
and pork have the name of the packer or 
shipper branded on the head of the cask, and 
below the name " 38 pieces prime mess beef," or 
" 50 pieces prime mess pork." Other qualities 
are put up in Ireland ; but we consider the above 
to be the most deserving of the attention of Ame- 
rican shippers. 

It is not required that beef and pork should un- 
dergo a public inspection, as we consider that the 
best security of their marketable character is 
found in the obvious interest of packers to furnish 
such an article as will earn a good name for their 
brand, and obtain the highest current rates. 

Fine leaf lard, if unmixed and well managed, 
will, we think, be a profitable article for ship, 
ment. It is put up in neat white kegs, contain, 
ing about 40 lbs. each. The lard is poured into 
the kegs at the head, and, so soon as it has 
cooled and settled down, the surface is made 
level, and covered with white paper, which pre- 
vents it from adhering to the lid when opened for 
inspection in our market. It is also put uji, to a 
considerable extent, in bladders, and shipped in 
hogsheads packed with bran or cut straw. It is 
important that the bladders should be well cleaned 
by scraping and the use of acids, so tliat they 
may be tolerably transparent. The inferior lard 
may be put up in packages of any size, which, 
when large, should be iron-hooped. 

We call the attention of curers in tlie United 
States to the fact, that while bacon and hams 
when dried pay a duty of 14s. per cent, if shipped 
in pickle they will be passed by oiur customs at 
the pork duty of 8s. As a set-off, however, 
against the 6s. per cwt. savfcd in duty, it must be 
recollected tliat pork cured in pickle is inferior in 
quality to that cured in dry salt, and will not 
bring an equal price ; that it is shipped in that 
fomi at an increased cost of packages and freight ; 
and that it pays a duty on a greater weight than 
whpn dried. We give these considerations, that 
shippers may decide for themselves which is the 
gpeferable mode of shipment. 

By the subjoined extract from the tariff, it wil 



60 



Improvements in Agriculture, and the Arts, 



be seen that the different duties in favor of 
colonial produce are so great as to give a decided 
advantage to Canada in the shipraerit of all pro- 
visions for our home consumption. Thus, in 
beef and pork, while foreign is subject to a duty 
of 8s. per cwt. colonial is admitted at 2s. ; but it 
is understood that, by the repeal of the 42d 
clause of the 3d and 4th William, cap. iv, 57, 
both foreign and colonial will not be admitted, 
for ship stores, free of duty. This feature in the 
bill we consider most important to America, and 
would call the attention of curers there to the al- 
tered position of trade in that particular. Lard 
is also adinitted on favorable terms ; and, as our 
demand for that article for machinery and manu- 
facturing purposes is very large, we would strong, 
ly recommend that the soft pork soould be melted 
down and shipped in that form. The high duty 
on foreign butter being retained, wUl prevent any 
regular trade in that article for America, except 
when prices are so low as to make it an object of 
attention for shipment as grease. Under this 
name it is liable to a duty of Is. and 8d. per cwt. 
only. In Canada, the soil appears to be very 
favorable for the production of tliis article ; and, 
under the present modified duty, it will become, 
we think, one of very large export. The princi- 
pal fault in Canadian butter at present is, that 
the milk is not sufficiently pressed out, and, con- 
sequently, when shipped on a long voyage, it 
becomes rancid before it can be consumed. It 
should be packed in casks containing from 70 to 
80 pounds, which must be air-tight. 

Cheese has already been shipped extensively ; 
and, as the quantity produced is increasing every 
year, it is Hkely to become an item of considerable 
trade. This article has been sliipped, heretofore, 
without much judgement being exercised ui the 
selection or assortment of the quahties, which 
has prevented the returns being so satisfactory 
as they otherwise would have been. American 
cheese is, for the most part, insufficiently pressed, 
which gives it, when cut, a porous or honeycomb 
a])pearance. It is also impleasant in flavor, owing 
to the too free use of rennet. The removal of these 
faults would very much enhance its value in the 
Enghsh market. 

With respect to grain and floiu-, it will be im- 
derstood that the new corn bill has placed the 
trade on a much more safe and steady footing ; 
though there will always be uncertainty while the 
principle of the shding scale of duties is preserved. 
On this branch of the trade no observations are 
required. 

Besides those articles of produce mentioned, 
there are, no doubt, others deserving the attention 
of shippers ; but we consider those specified as 
having the most immediate importance. 

The general directions now given being the 
result of our experience while engaged for some 
years exclusively in the produce trade, and being 
suggested by om- personal inspection of provisions 
and of the modes of cuiing we adopted in America, 
will be found, we conceive, not unimportant to 
those entering on the business. 

We have expressed our belief that, under the 
existing tarift', a large trade in produce will arise ; 
but when we look at tlie rapid progress of Free 
Trade principles in Britain, and the urgency of 
the popular demand for cheap provisions, we may 1 



Colonial. 


m 3 


6 


■ 2 





5 








3 


2 


6 


3 


5 


06 


2 





2 


6 



safely predict a much more extended trade within 
a few years, in consequence of the still farther 
modification of our Provision Laws. 

JOHN & CHARLES KIRKPATRICK, 

Produce Commission Merchants. 

PRESENT DUTIES. 

Foreign. 

Bacon, per cwt .£0 14 

Beef, fresh and salted, per cwt .080 

Butter, per cwt 1 

Butter, as grease, per cwt 18 

Cheese, per cwt 10 6 

Hams, per cwt 14 

Lard, per cwt 2 

Pork,percwt 80 

Tongues, per cwt 10 

Five per cent, extra is payable on the amount 

of the above duties. 

No. 19. 
Washington, February 6, 1843. 

Sir : Agreeably to your request, I give a very 
brief description of the process used by the citizens 
of Vermont in the manufacture of sugar from the 
sap of the maple-tree. The process in the early 
settlement of the State was very simple, being 
nothing more than evaporatmg the sap in iron 
kettles, usually about the capacity of ten gallons 
each, suspended over a fire made of logs, in the 
open air. When the sap is evaporated in the 
ratio of about ten or twelve gallons into one, the 
product is taken from the kettles, strained through 
a flannel bag, which takes from the sirup the 
leaves, coals, &c, which get into the kettles 
wlide over the fire. The sirup is then put into 
deep vessels, where it remains for two or three 
days, to settle. The sirup is then carefully taken 
from the vessels, leaving the sediments, and re- 
turned to the kettles, with the addition of about 
a pint of skimmed milk to a kettle containing 
eight or nine gallons of sirup. It is then slowly 
heated, when most of the impurities remaining 
in, the sirup will rise to the surface, and may be 
taken off with a skhnmer. The sirup is then 
evaporated to the proper consistency, which is 
ascertained by cooling small quantities in a spoon, 
or in some small vessel. The product is then taken 
from the fire, and either stuTcd until it is cool, by 
wliich it becomes dry sugar, or, more commonly, 
it is put into a tub or trough, and left to cool, 
without stu-ring. Tliis is afterward dj-ained by 
drawing a plug from the bottom of the tub or 
trough, thus separating the molasses from the 
sugar. 

In the early settlement of the State, and even 
at the present time, in new settlements, the above 
has been the usual mode of making sugar. 

In the older settlements, buildings are erected 
within or near the sugar-orchards. In these 
buildings, large kettles are set in brick furnaces, 
for the purpose of evaporating the sap. In some 
of them, shallow pans, made of sheet-iron, about 
six inches in depth, and of various dimensions, 
are also used. These pans are also set in brick 
furnaces, and are believed to evaporate much 
faster than deep kettles of the same capacity. 

The common method of extracting the sap from 
the maple is, by boring into the tree, about two 
inches, with a three-quarter inch bit or auger. 
The sap is then conveyed into small tubs, hold- 



Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts. 



61 



ing three or four gallons each, called sap-buckets, 
by spiles slightly inserted into the tree. It takes 
about four gallons of sap to make one pound of 
sugar. The season for making sugar in Vermont 
commences between the middle of March and the 
first of April, as the spring is more or less forward, 
and lasts about three weeks. One hundred good 



trees will yield sap sufficient to make from ree 
to five hmidred weight of sugar. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
SAMUEL C. CRAFTS. 
Henry L. Ellsworth, Esq. 

Commissioner of Patents. 



E. 

Statement of receipts for paients, caveats, disclaimers, improvements, and certified copies, in the 

ijear 1842. 



Amount received for patents, caveats, &.c. 
Amount received for office fees 



Deduct, repaid on withdrawals- 



$35,790 96 
714 67 



F. 

Statement of expenditures and payments made from the patent fund, by H. L. Ells- 
worth, Commissioner, from the 1st of January to the .31s< of December, 1842, in- 
clusive, under the act of March 3, 1839. 



For salaries 

For contingent expenses* 

For library .... 

For temporary clerks 

For agricultural statistics, &c 

For compensation to the Chief Justice of the District of Columbia 



Leaving a net balance to the credit of tlie patent fund . 



.$16,350 GO 

3,687 61 

105 37 

2,830 75 

105 75 

75 00 



$36,505 63 
8,086 95 



28,418 68 



23,154 45 



5,264 20 



* Expenses incurred recovering jewels not included. 

G. 

Statement of expenditures on the restoration of the Patent Office, under the act of ^d of March, 1837. 



For draughtsmen 

For examiner and register 

For restoring records of patents 

For restoring drawings 

For restoring models, and cases for models 

For freight on models 

For stationerv 



$2,400 00 


1,000 


00 


174 06 


103 


00 


9,763 54 


462 


88 


156 


52 



14,060 02 



Patent Office, January, 1843. 



H. L. ELLSWORTH. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Report of the operations of the Patent Of- 
fice for 1842 

Tabular estimate of the crops for 1842..,. 

Remarks, &c., on tabular estimate 

Progress of improvement 

Causes of improvement 

Elements of the estimate 

The season 

Review of the crops 

Wheat 

Barley 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat 

Maize or Indian corn 

Potatoes 

Hay ;;;;; 

Flax and hemp , 

Tobacco 

Cotton , 

Rice 

Silk 

Sugar 

cornstalk 

maple. 

Mr. Webb's experiments 

Mr. Blake's experiments. 

Mr. Weblj's remarks on manufac- 
ture 

Wine 

Aggregate of the crops 

Other products not embraced in the table. 

Broomcorn 

Madder 

Safflower and saffron 

Sumach 

Cranberries . ,.., 

Ginseng 

Sheep 

Eggs 

Pot and pearl ashes 

Lard oil, &c 

Sunflower oil 

Castor oil 



1—2 
3—4 



.5 
6 

7 
7 
8 
10 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
11 
12 
ih. 
13 
ih. 
16 
ih. 
18 
18—21 
18 
19 
ih. 

39 
21 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
ih. 
22 
ih. 
ih. 
23—26 
24 
24 



Rapesced oil ....24 — 52 

Amount of lard and pork that might be 

exported , 25 

Foreign market 26 

Improved move of fencing ih. 

Mode of constructing houses ih. 

Railroads ih. 

Future surplus 27 

Comparison of exports and imports, &c.. 27 

Markets at home and abroad 28 

Prospect of a foreign market 29 

The British tariff of certain articles 30 

Cost of shipments from different ports, &c. 32 

Worth of wheat exported, &c 32 

Sale of tallow in Havre 33 

Success of competition ...... 33 

Probable modification of the corn laws.. 35 
Letter of Hon. John TaliafeiTo on the 

Mediterranean wheat 38 

Letter of Mr. Webb on cornstalk sugar.. 39 
Letter of Professor Mapes on cornstalk 

sugar 43 

Letter of W. Allen on broomcorn . 44 

Letter of W. A. Otis on pot and pearl 

ashes 46 

Letter of H. Work on pot and pearl ashes 46 
Letter of Campbell Morfit on the manu- 
facture of oil and candles from lard, &c. 49 
Letter of William Milford on lard oil for 

light-houses 50 

Letter of J. R. Stafford on lard oil, &c... 51 

Letter of A. Scott on rapeseed 52 

Letter of H. W. Ellsworth on ditching and 

fencing 52 

Letter of W. Macrea on duties in Canada, 

&c 58 

Letter of Hon. S. C. Crafts on maple sugar 60 
Mode of manufacturing elaine and stear- 

in from lard, patented by J. H. Smith.. 51 

Mode of fencing and ditching, &.c 52 

Mode of constructing cheap cottages 55 

Mode of preparing provisions for the Eng- 
lish market 68 

Statement of duties in the Canadas • 69 



ON 



RAISING SWINE, 

AND 

THE BEST METHODS OF FATTENING PORK. 

FROM THE FOURTH REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURE OF 
MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY HENRY COLMAN, 

Oommlssioner for the Agricultural Survey of Msuisachusetts. 



Swine form a considerable portion of of the live 
stock of Middlesex county. Though Middle- 
sex is not a hog-raising county, yet such is 
the number of swinish emigrants into it, and 
the respectability of the condition to which they 
are advanced after their arrival, that I might be 
liable to the charge of some Jewish prejudice if I 
passed them over in silence. Some years since, at 
a Brighton Cattle Show, an accomplished scholar, 
then a professor of Harvard University, and af- 
terwards Governor of Massachusetts, whose wit 
was always racy, and when let out, sparlded 
and bubbled like a soda fountain, in toasting the 
farmers of Massachusetts and the literati of her 
college, expressed a wish that their pejis might 
equally do them honor. Without disparagement 
to the other side of tlie house, this wish I may 
say, in respect to the fanners of Middlesex, 
seems accomplished. 

.Large nmnbersof swine, are brought into this 
county for sale. These come mainly from the 
state of New-York. Until within a few years, a 
breed, known as the Grass-fed hogs, constituted 
the principal stock. This was a hog, raised with 
little otlier feed than clover pasturage for the first 
six months, of a white color with black patches 
sprinkled over him, long and well fomaed of good 
thrift, and who, with good keeping, at eighteen 
months old, was easily brought to 400 and 500 
pounds weight. Within the last few years the 
Berkshire hog has been introduced. His symme- 
try, thrift, cleanliness, fineness of bone, his ex- 
cellent shoulders and hams, and, above all, his 
good humor and his marked deficiency in the or. 
gan of tune, secured universal favor. In my vis- 
its among the farmers since the introduction of 
this race, I have been amused with their enthusi- 
asm for their swine, resembhng that of parson 
Trulliber, in Fielding's History of Joseph An- 
drews ; and in finding them, I liad almost said, 
more proud of their Berkshire pigs at their troughs, 
than of their chubby and rosy-cheeked children 
round theh supper-tables. I am a great admirer 
of the Berkshire swine, but I could never sympa- 
thize in these preferences ; and my respect for 
human nature has considerably increased since 
the progress of the blessed Temperance reforma- 
tion, and since men are now seldom seen as for- 
merly with all rationality extinguished, and even 
their animal natme outraged and degraded. 



We have been compelled, however, in this as in 
many other cases, to witness the capriciousness of 
public favor ; and to adopt, with tlie variation oT 
only a letter, the familiar proverb, and say in this 
case, that " every hog must have Iris day." The 
popularity of the Berkshire swine is on the wane. 
It is objected to them by many farmers that tliey 
are not large enough, though they are easily made 
to reach, at fourteen months old, 300 or 350 lbs. ; 
and further, that they do not cut up well ; and 
that the fat on their backs and sides is not thick 
enough, especially for packing down for fishermen, 
who would be glad to have their pork all fat, and 
whom I have seen spread their uncooked salted 
fat pork, as landsmen spread butter, on theic 
bread. 

The former objection is not made by all per- 
sons, as many would prefer for their tables the 
pork of a hog weighing 300 lbs. to that of hogs 
weighing 600 lbs., of which I have seen many m 
our market. With respect to the latter objection, 
I was half disposed at first to consider it a mere 
caprice, but that E. Phinney, of Lexington, a 
farmer in this matter " not unknown to fame," — 
and another most respectable farmer of Franklin 
comity, admit that there is some tnith in it ; and 
they, as well as many others, prefer a cross to the 
pure blood. The impression is becoming general, 
and the butchers in Quincy market are unani- 
mous in their unfavorable opinion of the Berk- 
shire hogs. They admit that their hams and 
shoulders are good for bacon ; but their backs, 
where they most require it, have no depth of fat- 
ness, and they are therefore unsuitable for salt- 
ing. They are good breeders and nurses. They 
may be kept, therefore, to much advantage where 
the object is to raise roasting pigs for the market. 
Tliis is sometimes quite profitable where a sow 
has two htters a year. A roast pig, only wean- 
ed by the knife, has from time immemorial been 
deemed a most luxurious dish. So it is likely to 
continue to be. Charles Lamb says that the 
Chinese never knew the lusciousness of a roasted 
pig until an accidental fire occurred which de- 
stroyed a pig.stye with its inhabitants. In pul- 
ling the bodies of these poor creatm'es burnt to a 
crisp from the fire, some of the skin or flesh ad- 
hered to the fingers of the Chinese, and in putting 
their hands by chance to their mouths, they for 
the first time in their lives inhaled the odor and 



64 



On Raising Swine, and 



tasted the deliciousness of the roasted skin. After 
that, the accidental burning of pig-styes became 
so common that the civil authorities were com- 
pelled to interpose. 

It is but just, however, to the Berkshires to say, 
that the unfavorable impression in regard to them, 
though general, is not universal. An intelligent 
and very exact farmer at Braintrec, B. V. French, 
has found them to answer his expectations. Upon 
recently killing a number, he was well satisfied 
with their appearance, and is of opinion that 
much of the prejudice which exists against them 
belongs properly to the impure but not to the 
genuine race. 

The introduction of the Chinese hogs into this 
country and into England seems to have been 
the foundation of all the extraordinary improve- 
ments which have taken place in this race of ani- 
mals — improvements which, within less than half 
a century, have doubtless enriched the State of 
Massachusetts many hundreds of thousands of 
dollars, and the comitry by millions. Tlie effects | 
of this cross with other swine have been to give 
fineness of bone, plumpness and fnJness of form, 
extraordinary thriftness, and quietness of de- 
meanor. The old race of hogs, seemed to be of 
the wolf species in temper as well as condition, 
and were the personification of ughness and ra- 
pacity. The first introduction of one of tliese 
animals into a secluded part of Scotland, witliin 
the last century, is matter of comparatively 
modem history. Having got loose from liis stye, 
he appeared to the terrified imaginations of these 
simple people as the archfiend himself, and crowds 
hovered together through fear — the parish school- 
master being at their head with an open bible, to 
endeavor to lay this evil spirit ! The animal now, 
in his improved condition, is regarded as one of 
tlie farmer's best friends ; he eats what nothing 
else will eat ; he is a general scavenger, and an 
excellent composter of manure. His own manure 
is one of tiie most enriching substances which can 
be supplied to the soil, though not one of the most 
lastmg in its effects ; and his flesh is the most 
frequent dish upon the farmer's table. This 
county may boast of great improvements in their 
swine. 

A Mr. Mackay, of Boston, owning a farm 
in Weston, obtained from abroad, some years 
since, a valuable hog, whose natural good quali- 
ties by good management he greatly improved. 
Some of this breed of swine have been most re- 
markable for thrift and weight. Besides this, a 
hog called the Mocho hog, long, round and thrifty, 
whose pedigree is not known, has been introduced 
here. Some of the best hogs which I have seen 
have been from an admixture of these three 
bloods. Mr. Phinney emphatically approves this 
cross ; and the weight of his swine when killed, 
of some of which I subjoin an account, establishes 
the soundness of his judgement. 

In 1840, Mr. Phinney sent the following hogs 
to market : 



Feb. 17. 
1 weighed 763 lbs. 



Mos. 



591 
476 
430 
475 
465 
430 
464 



20 
15 
15 
12 
12 
12 
12 
12 



Ffb. 6. 


Feb. 15. 


1 weighed 


407 lbs. 


1 weighed 469 lbs. 


2 


414 " 


2 " 367 " 


3 


413 «' 


3 " 362 " 


4 


305 •' 


4 » 331 * 


5 


364 « 




6 


366 " 





In 1841, the subjoined is a list of fifteen Berk- 
shire and Mackay hogs from the same farm. 
Febrvary 22, 1841. 

1 weighed 738 lbs. 1 weighed 528 lbs. 

2 « 655 " 2 " 523 « 

3 " 579 " 3 " 517 " 

4 " 574 " 4 " 503 " 

5 " 556 " 5 " 501 " 

1 weighed 487 lbs. 

2 '" 480 " 

3 " 476 " 

4 " 441 " 

5 " 400 " 

The grass-fed hogs, whicli I have before men- 
tioned, are regaining tlieu- popularity. They have 
been, to a degree, crossed and intermixed with 
various valuable breeds jn the interior, and are 
now prefeiTcd to all others in the Brighton mar- 
ket. With good care and keeping, at fifteen and 
eighteen months old they are easily carried to 500 
and 600 lbs. 

Of four, fatted by Stephen Morse, of Marl- 
borough, the current season, the weight was as 
follows : 539 lbs., 530, 506, 459— averaging 508^ 
lbs. each. These hogs were put into the stye in 
September, 1840, weighing "between 70 and 80 
lbs. each, and were killed in October, 1841. They 
were kept mainly upon boiled potatoes the first 
winter, and since that, upon the slops of the dairy, 
skim milk, butter milk, whey and Indian meal. 

Some of the best hogs which I have ever seen 
have been fatted at the slaughtering establishment 
of Jesse Bird, in Watertown. He keeps his swine 
about six months. He purchases the grass breed 
above mentioned, preferring hogs with a small 
head, round and full body though not deep belly, 
and with full shoulders and broad backs. Thc}' 
are taken in, weighing from 170 to 200 lbs., kept 
in the slaughter-yard for a time, and, previous to 
killing, are fed upon potatoes and Indian meal 
cooked, and are brought to weigh from 450 to 
600 lbs. 

At the slaughtering estabhshments in the vicini- 
ty of the capital, large amounts of pork are sup- 
ported and fatted upon tlie offal. Sometimes this 
is cooked for the s\^^ne ; in other cases, it is given 
in its raw state, so that without any troublesome 
change in the way of preparation, the hogs eat the 
cattle and then men eat the hogs. It is easy, but 
not agreeable to imagine in such cases what the 
pork may be. The richness of animal food be- 
comes thus a little too much concentrated even for 
the epicurian palate ; and few persons knowingly 
would have the courage to touch such food when 
coming directly from the slaugliter-yard, except- 
ing some, who are cannibals by nature, and by 
some accident have been misplaced in a civilized 
country. It answers very well for shipping pork, 
for no questions of taste are ever held over a bar- 
rel of provisi6n either on a slave plantation or at 
sea. It is ascertained, however, that in fatting 



the hest methods of Fattening Porh. 



65 



swine, some portion of animal food and pot liquor 
is highly conducive to thrift. In the best estab- 
lishments, the hogs some time before being 
Blaughtered, are put upon vegetable food, potatoes, 
Indian meal, &c, so that the rankness of the 
pork is taken away. 

E. Phinney's swine estabhshed at Lexington, 
is among the most extensive in the county. His 
number of fattening swine averages about 100, 
with fifty store hogs, and they are killed in Feb- 
ruary and March, whexi from 10 to 18 months 
old, being of the fall and winter litters of the 
previous year. His pens are well arranged ; sel- 
dom occupied by more than three or four in a pen. 
They have a manui'e-yard attached to each pen, 
into which bog-mud and litter are thrown for their 
manufacture and compounding, and they have 
always a dry and comfortable bed. They are fed 
regularly tliree times a day. I shall subjoin an 
account given by himself of his mode of manage- 
ment, which the farmers will read with interest ; 
and shall annex at the end, a sketch of his styes 
or barracks. 

" An inquiry is often made as to the best time 
of killing, or at what age it is most profitable to 
slaughter them. On a large farm where much 
green herbage is produced, and where the value 
of the manure is taken into the account, the pigs 
killed at the age of 15 or 16 months, give the 
greatest profit. When it is intended to kill them 
at this age, they may be kept on more ordinary 
and cheaper food for the first 10 or 12 months, or 
till within four or five months of the time of kill- 
ing. The manure they make and the extra 
weight of pork more than pay the expense in- 
curred in keeping them the longer time ; but the 
spring pigs, which are to be killed the ensuing 
winter and spring, must be kept upon the best of 
food from the time they are taken from tlie sow 
until they are slaughtered. 

" The older class of pigs, for the first ten or 12 
months, are kept principally upon brewers' grains, 
with a small quantity of Indian or barley meal, 
or rice, ruta-baga, sugar-beet, &,c, and in the sea- 
son of clover, peas, oats, cornstalks, weeds, &c, 
they are cut green and thrown into the pens ; 
the next four or five months befoi-e killing they 
have as much Indian meal, barley meal or rice, 
with an equal quantity of potatoes, apples or 
pumpkins, as they will eat, the whole being well 
cooked and salied, and given to them about blood 
warm. Dm'ing the season of fattening, an ear or 
two of hard corn is every day given to each pig. 
This small quantity they will digest well, and of 
course there is no waste. Slielled corn, soaked 
in water made as salt as the water of the ocean 
for 48 hoiu-s, with a quart of wood ashes added to 
each bushel and given to them occasionally in 
small quantities, greatly promotes their health and 
growth. Their health and appetite is also greatly 
promoted by throwing a handful of charcoal once 
or twice a week into each of their pens. Their 
principal food should, however, be cooked thor. 
oughly and nicely. From long practice and re- 
peated experiments, I am convinced that two dol- 
lars' worth of material well cooked, will make as 
much pork as three dollars' worth of the same ma- 
terial given in a raw state. 

" Pigs when first taken from the sow should be 
Veated with great care, to prevent them from 



scouring and becoming stinted ; when either of 
these happen, it will require many days and some, 
times weeks to put them again into a healthy, 
growing condition. When first deprived of the 
maternal food, a little new or skim milk, boiled 
and slightly salted and given to tliem often and in 
small quantities, will prevent scouring and great, 
ly promote their growth. If intended for killing 
at the age of 9 or 10 months, they should be full 
fed all the time and kept as fat as possible. If, 
on the other hand, they are intended for killing at 
the age of 15 or 18 months, they should not be 
full-fed, nor be made very fat for the first 10 or 12 
months. 

" To satisfy myself of the benefit of this course, 
I took six of my best pigs, eight weeks old, all of 
the same litter, and shut them in two pens, three 
in each. Three of these I fed very high and kept 
them as fat all the time as they could be made. — 
The other three were fed sparingly, upon coarse 
food, but kept in a healthy, growing condition, 
till within four or five months of the time of kill- 
ing, when they were fed as high as the others. — 
They were all slaughtered at the same time, being 
then 16 months old. At tlie age of 9 months the 
full-fed pigs were much the heaviest, but at the 
time of killing, the pigs fed sparmgly for the first 
10 or 12 months weighed, upon an average, fifty 
pounds each more tlian the others. Besides this 
additional weight of pork, the three " lean kine" 
added much more than the others to luy raanme 
heap. These results would seem very obvious to 
any one who has noticed the habits of the animal. 
In consequence of short feeding, they were much 
more active and industrious in the manufacture 
of compost, and this activity at the same time 
caused the muscles to enlarge and the frame to 
spread, while the very fat pigs became inactive, 
and like indolent bipeds, they neither worked for 
their own benefit nor for that of others. 

" For the purpose of increasing my manure 
heap, my pens are kept constantly supplied with 
peat or swamp mud, about three hundi-ed loads 
of which are annually thrown into my styes.— 
This, with the manure from my horse stable, 
which is daily thrown in, and the weeds and 
coarse herbage which are gathered from the 
farm, gave me about 500 cart loads of manure in 
a year. 

" On regular and systematic feeding and clean 
and dry bedding, the success of raising and fat. 
tening swine very much depends. A faithful 
feeder, also, who has some skill and taste, and 
withal a Httle pride of vocation, is indispensa- 
ble." 

Of all articles ever given to fatting swine, In- 
dian meal is, without doubt, the most nutritious. 

Mr. Phinney, it seems, has by actual tiial, set. 
tied a much vexed question, whether hogs should 
be forced by full feeding when yoimg, or at first 
be only kept well in a growing state. He found 
it better, when designed to be kept more than a 
year, to let the young animal, by sufiicient but 
not excessive feeding, have time to develop him- 
self and acquire a natural size, rather than, by 
filling him to repletion, to bring on a premature 
state of fatness, which seemed to check the growth. 
To young pigs, milk, whey and butter-milk are 
the best of all feed ; but where cows are kept for 
the purpose of supplying the market with milk, 



66 



On, Raising Swine, and 



the pigs will be of course regarded as very poor 
customers. " The milkman will not call." 

The estaWishment of J. P. Gushing, Water. 
town, for keeping and fatting swine, is upon a 
large scale, and is exceedingly well contrived for 
his situation. It consists of a long one-story 
building, with separate pens on one side extend- 
ing the whole length, each designed for four 
swine, v\ath an opan yard and a lodging and eat- 
ing room to each, besides some lying-in apart, 
ments.* A commodious passage-way runs the 
whole length of it, with the troughs projecting into 
the passageway, and a shutter for the troughs so 
contrived that the trough is easily cleaned at any 
time, and the food of the hogs is placed before 
them without admitting that which, in the usual 
slovenly mode of feeding, is but too common, an 
uncivil interference on their part before all is 
ready. Some contrivance as effectual as this for 
another class of animals would be quite useful at 
some of our public hotels and steamboats, and 
save us from the severe remarks of those foreign 
travelers who have little sympathy with our cus. 
tomary despatch of business, and seem to look 
upon us as a nation of fire-eaters. 

The cooking apparatus is at one end. Had 
economy of room and ease of feeding been stu- 
died, the building might have been double the 
width, with pens on each side. In England, 
they are sometimes made circular with the cook, 
ing apparatus in the centre and the feedintr 
troughs all within the circle ; but in such cases 
there must be much waste of room. Mr. Cush- 
ing'B barracks are lengthwise of his cattle-yard, 
so that the manure from the pens of his swine is 
thrown immediately into the yard, and any litter 
or muck easily supplied in the same way. His 
store hogs, too, at pleasure may be turned into 
the cattle-yard with the advice given in ^Esop's 
fable by the dying father to his sons, " that there 
is a treasure buried in the field which they would 
find by digging for ft." The swine however do 
not much need the advice. They are natural 
philosophers, and go bj' instinct into deep investi- 
gations. Some of them should always be kept 
in barn-yards and cellars. They are of great use 
in turning up and mixing the manure ; and in 
yards where^ cattle are fed upon grain, and the 
sweepings of the bam floors are thrown out, they 
take care that nothing is lost. I have known a 
considerable number of store hogs kept in a thrifty 
condition upon that only which they obtained in 
a yard where a proportional number of beef cat. 
tie were stall-fed. The philosophy of reciprocal 
uses, which is apparent in every department of 
nature, though it frequently presents itself in a 
form offensive to a fastidious taste, is to a reflect. 
ing mind always instructive on the wonderful 
economy of the divine providence. 

The question of profit in keeping and fattening 
swine has been much discussed, and so much de. 
pends on circumstances of age, breed, food, 
length of time kept, and price in the market, that 



' The lenprtb of this building, including- ihe cooking 
place, is 252 feet, width 12 fret, asd hig;iit the same. There- 
are twenty pens, each 12 feet by 8, and a yard of 12 feet 
attached to each pen. The number of hogs that can be ac- 
commodated depends upon their sizes— from three to six, 
say an average of four «f SOO weight each. Tkere were 
fatted fifty-two hogs last season, weighing, dressed, 16,- 
373 lbs. 



the question must remain open. Mr. Phinney 
gives it as his opinion that with Indian corn at 
one dollar per bushel and potatoes at 33 cents, and 
price of pork 12 cents, they may be fatted to a 
profit. In his experience, he says, four quarts of 
Indian or barley meal with an equal quantity of 
apples, pumpkins, potatoes or roots cooked, will 
give two pounds of pork. 

A small example of fatting swine in Medway, 
Norfolk county, which came under my notice, 
seems worth recording, because an exact account 
of their cost was kept. The owner was a me- 
chanic and bought every article of their feed, not 
even keeping a cow. His two hogs when killed 
weighed, one 420 lbs. — one 382 lbs., and pork 
was then worth 12 cents per lb. Value when 
dressed, $96 24. They were killed at 14 months 
old. They were bought in November and killed 
in the December of the next year. The}' were 
kept in the stye the whole time ; were fed three 
times a day with weeds, corn, and potatoes. The 
potatoes were boiled and the Indian meal mixed 
with them into a mash. They were fed exclusive, 
ly on com one week before being killed. They 
did as well in winter as in summer. Salt was fre- 
quently given to them in their swill. The price 
of corn bought for them was 117 cts. to 136 cents, 
or an average of 130 cents per bushel- Potatoes 
were 30 cents per bushel. The whole cost of the 
hogs when fatted was $62, including the price of 
purchase, or 7.8 cents per lb. 

I shall here subjoin some careful experiments 
made by myself a few years since in relation to 
this subject. They were given to some portion of 
the public at the time, in another form ; but they 
may here reach many by whom they have not 
been seen, and to whom they may be interesting. 

ExpEiiiME.xT 1. Two hogs about one year old ; 
one of them a barrow in very good condition ; the 
other a barrow recently gelded and in ordinary con. 
dition, were put up to be fed exclusively upon In- 
dian hasty pudding or Indian meal boiled with 
water. We began feeding them the 1st of March, 
1831, and weighed them again on the 19th of the 
same month. In the eighteen days they con- 
sumed six bushels of Indian meal. They were 
offered cold water to drink but did not incline to 
take any. 

The result — 

No. 1 weighed on 1st March, 233 lbs. 

19th " 269 

Gain 36 

No. 2 (recently gelded,) weighed on let 

March 190 

" 19th March 247 

Gain 57 

The gain of the two was 93 lbs. in 18 days. — 
The quantity of meal consumed by them was 10 
quarts per day to the two. We allow 30 quarts 
to a bushel, deducting two for grinding. The 
price of com at the time was 70 cents per bushel. 
The expense of the increase weight is 4.5 cents • 
per lb. 

March 21, 1831. Klled the hog mentioned first 
in the foregoing experiment. Live weight 273 
lbs. Weight when dressed 215 lbs. Loss in offal, 
loose fat included, 58 lbs. or a little more than one 
fifth. 



the best methods of Fattening PorJc. 



67 



Experiment 2. — No. 2, mentioned above 
weighed 

On 23d March 253 lbs. 

On 30th April 312 

In 38 days, gain 59 lbs. 

No. 3, a shoat purchased from a drove, 

weighed on 28Ui March 1 00 lbs. 

Do. on 30th April 151 

Gain in 33 days 51 lbs. 

This is a fraction over 1 lb. 8 oz. per day each, 
nearly 1 lb. 9 oz. 

In tiiis case their food was exclusively boiled 
potatoes mashed with Indian meal. The exact 
amount consumed not ascertained, but fed as 
fi-eely as they would bear. 

Experiment 3. The two last-named hogs 
v/ere for tire next 20 days put upon Indian hasty 
pudding exclusively, with the following result : 

No. 2 weighed on 30th April 312 lbs. 

20th May 382 

Gainm20 days 70 lbs. 

No. 3. weighed on 30th April 151 

20th May 185 

Gain in 20 days 34 lbs. 

The two in the above named 20 daj's, con- 
sumed four and one-half bushels of meal, cooked 
as above. Meal 78 cents per bushel. Gain of 
the two, 104 lbs. in 20 days. 

Experiment 4. Sundry swine purchased from 
a drove, and fed with meal and potatoes, washed 
and mashed — 

28th March, 1831, 19th May, 1831, 

No. 1, weigh 97 lb. 165 lb., gain 52 day?, 68 lb. 

2, " 134 182 " " 48 

3, " 100 186 " " 86 
The two following, raised on the farm, and fed 

as above — 

25th April, 1831, 19th May, 1831, 

No. 4, weighed 151 lb. 206 lb., gain 24 days, 55 lb. 
5, " 140 165 " " 25 

Experiment 5. In this case it was not m- 
tended to force their tlirift, but to keep the swine 
in an improving condition. They were shoats of 
the last autumn, and were of a good breed. 

Tuesday, 3d April, 1833. Put up four shoats, 
and began feeding them with Indian hasty pud- 
ding. 

3d April, 22d April, 25th June, 

No. 1, 1761b. 202 lb. gain 25 264 lb. gain 62 

2, 119 153 " 34 226 " 73 

3, 150 170 " 20 .218 " 48 

[Total, 183 pounds. 

4, 121 145 " 24 killed 30th May. 
From 3d April, to 22d April the above swine 

consumed seven bushels and one peck of Indian 
meal. From 22d April, to 25th June, seven 
bushels of Indian meal, cooked as above. 

One of the above. No. 4, was killed on 30th 
May ; being absent, the live weight was not as- 
certained. 

On the 25th June, the three remaining hogs 
were weighed, and in the 63 days from 22d April 
to 25tli June, they had gained in that time 183 
lbs. as above. 

After 30th May, when one of them was killed, 
one peck of meal made into hasty pudding with 



a small allowance of the waste of the kitchen for 
a part of that time, lasted them three days, that 
is 22-25 or less than a quart, say J of a quart per 
day to each. 

At first we employed half a bushel of Indian 
meal to make a kettle of hasty pudding ; but we 
soon found that a peck of meal by being boiled 
sufficiently would make the same kettle nearly 
full of hasty pudding and of sufficient consistency. 
The kettle was a common-sized five-pail kettle, 
set in brick work in tlie house ; and it was re- 
markable that the peck of meal produced nearly 
the same quantity of pudding, that we obtained 
from the half bushel, which showed the importance 
of inducing the' meal to take up all the water it 
covdd be made to absorb. 

The price of Indian corn was at that time 75 
cents per bushel — 30 quarts of meal to a bushel 
deducting the toll. The amount of meal con- 
sumed in the whole time from 3d April to 25th 
June was 14^ bushels — the cost $10 69 — the total 
gain, making no allowance for the gain of No. 4, 
from 22d April to 30th May, which was not as- 
certained, was 287 lbs. 

The gain of No. 1, 2 and 3, from 22d April to 
25th June was 183 lbs. in 63 days ; and allowing 
one peck to serve the three hogs for three days, 
required b\ bushels, the cost of which was $3 94. 
The live weight could not be estimated at less 
than 4 cents per lb. when pork was at market 6 
cents. 

The value of the 183 lbs. therefore was equal 
to $7 32, or at 5 cents to $9 15 cents. 

The gain of the swine for the first 19 days, from 
3d to 22d April, was 

No. 1, 26 lbs. or 1.368 per day. 
" 2, 34 " or 1.789 " 
« 3, 20 " or 1.052 " 
« 4, 24 " or. 1263 " 
The gain from 22d April to 25th June, 63 days, was 
No. 1, 62 lbs. or 0.984 per day. 
" 2, 73 " or 1.158 " 
" 3, 48 " or 0.761 « 
The difference of daily gain in the two periods 
was attributable to the diminished quantity of 
meal. The question then arises, whether the first 
mode of feeding was as economical as the second. 
In the first 19 days, 7 bs. 1 peck consumed, 
gave 104 lbs. gain. In the next 63 days, 5 bs. 
1 peck consumed, gave 183 lbs. gain. 

Had the first gain been in proportion to the 
second gain in reference to the meal consumed, 
the 1\ bushels wliich gave 104 lbs. should have 
given 252 5-7 lbs. This great disparity can be 
explained only in tlie more economical prepara- 
tion of the meal, by which a peck, taking up as 
much water as it would contain, gave a kettle 
nearly full of pudding, when half a bushel of meal, 
imperfectly prepared, gave little more. This seems 
to demonstrate the great advantage of cooked 
food, both as it respects its increase of bulk and 
the improvement of its nutritive properties. — 
Whether it would apply to those substances, whose 
bulk is not increased by cooking, equally as to 
Indian meal and the Uke, is a matter which ex- 
perunents only can determine. 

Such are some few trials in reference to the 
feeding and fattening of swine, which I have made, 
or information of which I have obtained fi'om 
other sources, which may at least lead the in- 



68 



On Raising Swine, and 



quisitive farmer to further experiments and in- 
quiries, on a subject of great importance to his 
interest. The inferences to be made from them 
I shall leave to others. The results, as will be 
observed, are not uniform. The thrift of animals 
must depend on various other circumstances be- 
sides the kinds or the quantity of food given them. 
Much depends on the breed, as every farmer 
knows ; much on the health of the animal ; some- 
thing on the season of the year. I failed in at- 
tempting to fatten several swine in one case, 
though they were carefully attended and various 
kinds of feed were tried, and the failure was 
totally inexplicable until they were slaughtered, 
when the intestines were found corroded with 
worms, resembling those found in the human 
stomach, and this, I have no doubt, prevented 
their thrift. The same fact has occurred in 
another instaiice, and with the same result. I 
failed in attempting to fatten some other swine, 
who had been driven a considerable distance and 
exposed, probably not even half fed on the road, 
to severe cold and storms. Some of them were 
frost-bitten in their limbs ; and though attended 
and fed in the most careful manner they made no 
progress for months. In an experiment recently 
made, of giving swine raw meal mixed with 
water, I have found a falling off in their gain of 
nearly one half, compared with giving their food 
cooked, such as boiled potatoes and carrots, mixed 
with meal while hot ; the result being, in a stye 
containing a number of swine, as 279 to 500. In 
respect to confinement or freedom, various opinions 
are entertained. The Shakers at Canterbury, N. 
H., deem it indispensable to the thriving of tlieir 
swine that they should have access to water to 
wallow or wash themselves in ; and that they by 
no means do so well without it. On this point I 
have had no trial further than to satisfy myself 
that fatting hogs are sometimes uijured by being 
suffered to root in the earth. 

With respect to the age at whicli it is advan- 
tageous to put up swine to fatten, I have only to 
remark, that it is with swine as with other ani- 
mals, there are some breeds which come much 
sooner to maturity than others. A successful 
farmer in Saratoga count}', N. Y., says tliat 
March pigs, killed about Christmas, are the most 
profitable for pork. Four pigs, of wliat is called 
the grass breed, were slaughtered at Greenfield, 
N. Y., which weighed 348 lbs. 318 lbs. 310 lbs. 
and 306 lbs. at nine months and seventeen days 
old. 

On this point, I present a letter with which I 
was honored by the late John Lowell, whose au- 
thority in the agricultural community is justly 
estimated. 
" Dear Sir, — 

" I have been prevented answermg your inqui- 
ries as to my experience in raising old or young pigs. 
I may say that I have fully and clearly ascertained, 
from a trial of twenty years, that young pigs of 
from 25 to 30 lbs. will give nearly double, in some 
remarkable cases three times, as many lbs. as 
shoats of six months weigliing from 100 to 150. 
I have taken two pigs of 100 lbs. each, age six 
months, and never was able between May and 
November, to get them above 180, rarely above 
170. I have taken three pigs, of about 30 lbs. 
each, and on the same food which I gave to the 



two, they would weigh from 170 to 180 each in 
the same period ; — nay I have taken pigs of 200, 
and never could get them to weigh more than 300 
in 7 months, on my food. The way I ascertain 
the quantity of food is, that I never give any 
tiling but the produce of my dairy, and the refuse 
of the garden, peaches, apples, and cabbage, 
which are uniform generally. 
3 pigs of 90 wt. or 30 wt. each, will 

give, ordinarily 510 lbs. 

less original wt. 90 often 

not iHore than 60. 

gain 420 lbs. 
2 pigs of 100 wt. each, will give, ordi- 
narily 340 lbs. 

less original wt. 200 

gain 140 lbs. 

" But the 3 pigs of 90 will not consume for the 
first three months half so much as the two of 100 
each, and I have kept a fourth and sold it in Au- 
gust for quarter pork. 

" There is nothing new or rema.ikable in these 
facts. It is the law of the whole animal crea- 
tion. It is tmc of the calf and man. The child 
of 7 lbs. quadruples its weight in 12 months ; 
and the calf of 60 wt. if fine and well fed, will 
weigh 600 wt. at the end of the year, and (if a 
female) will not double the last weight at any 
age. 

" P. S. It should be remarked that the weight 
at purchase is live weight, and at sale dead or net 
weight, because in truth, to the owner this is the 
true mode of considering the subject. No doubt 
my sort of food is peculiarly favorable to young 
animals, it consisting in very liberal allowance of 
milk. If the older pigs were at once put on In- 
dian meal, they would attain to 250 lbs. at a year 
old, but the cost of the meal, at 70 cents per bush- 
el, would amount to 9 dollars, and if the first cost, 
5 dollars 50 cents, be added, and the pig sold at 6 
cents, there would be but 2 dollars gam on 2 pigs 
of 100 lbs. each ; while 3 small pigs, without 
meal, fed on milk, would give 24 dollars in the 
same time. I do not mean to give minute de- 
tails but general views. As an important quali- 
fication of the foregoing statement, it should be 
added that shoats of six months, bought out of 
droves, have usudly been stinted in tlieir growth, 
and animals, like trees, recover slowly after a 
check. I presume if shoats were taken from a 
careful and liberal owner, the difference would be 
less. But as a general law it may be safely af- 
firmed, that weight for weight at the purchase, 
the younger the animal the greater the positive, 
and the far greater the net gain. At least such 
is my own experience and beUef." 

The preceding facts and experiments encour- 
"age the belief that hogs may be raised and fat- 
tened by the farmer to advantage, where corn is 
worth 70 cents per bushel, and his pork will bnng 
him 6 cents per pound. Success must greatly 
depend on skill, care, selection, and good man- 
agement. The best swine that I have ever found 
have been in dairy countries, for there cannot be 
a doubt that milk and whey for every animal are 
among the most nutritious of ahments. Indian 
meal probably ranks next, though many farmers 
prefer a mixture of provender, such as corn, oat 
rye, or barley ; but I believe in all cases cook 



the best methods of Fattening Pork. 



69 



food will have a decided advantage over that 
which is given in a raw state : an advantage more 
than equivalent to the labor and expense of its 
preparation. Potatoes are a valuable article of 
food, but the pork is not so good as that fattened 
upon corn. Carrots are more nutritious than po- 
tatoes. Com given in a raw state or on the ear 
is a most wasteful management. 

Swine ought to be kept on every farm in suffi- 
cient numbers to consume all the ofFal and waste 
of the dairy and kitchen. If beyond this, a breed 
can be obtained, which will arrive at early matu- 
rity, and which can be advantageously grass-fed 
or kept at a small expense and in an improving 
condition through the summer ; and being put up 
to fatten early in autumn and forced as much as 
possible so as to be sent to market early in the 
winter, the farmer will ordinarily find a fair pro- 
fit in tiiis branch of husbandry. A great advan- 
tage is found in the keeping of swine from the 
valuable returns of manure botli in quantity and 
quality, which are obtained from them, where 
care is taken to supply them with raw materials 
for the munufacture. Too much care cannot be 
bestowed in the selection of tlie breed and the 
general health of the animal when put up to feed ; 
and it is strongly recommended to every careful 
fanner occasionally to weigh the animal and mea- 
sure the feed, that he may ascertain seasonably on 
which side the balance of debt or credit is likely 
to fall. Nothing is more prejudicial to good hus- 
bandry than mere guesses and random conjectures, 
though the result of our operations may not meet 
either our wishes or expectations, an intelligent 
mind will be always anxious as far as practicable 
to know precisely how far they correspond with 
or disappoint them. 

The profit of fatting pork with us has become 
much more questionable since such vast amounts 
of salted pork and hams are brought into our mar- 
kets from Ohio and the far Western States, through 
the great and constantly increasing facilities of 
f^ransportation. 

PLAN OF MR. PHINNEY 



This must essentially affect our markets. But 
it is to be considered that to a certain extent our 
own pork here will always be preferred ; and that 
fresh pork, the lean pieces, will always be wanted 
in our market, with which the Western pork can- 
not at present come into competition, though af- 
ter the experience of the last five years, it might 
be almost rashness to say that our markets may 
not yet be supplied with roasting pigs emd fresh 
spare-ribs from Cincinnati. Then again there is 
on every farm a certain amount of refuse and of- 
fal, which may be profitably given to hogs, jind 
would otherwise be lost. There is another circum- 
stance, which* must go to the credit of ourswine 
Manure in Middlesex county is every where 
valued at least 4 doUars per cord on the farm. — 
A hog duly supplied with the raw material, for a 
hog cannot, more than an Israelite, make bricks 
without straw, will make three cords of valuable 
manure in a year. A sow well kept Ukewise. may 
raise a litter of pigs, and may be fitted for market 
m the same year. These circumstances may en- 
courage us to think that, in spite of Western com- 
petition, a certain amount of pork may be profita- 
bly fatted among us every year. It is compara- 
tively a recent discovery that apples are as good 
for fatting swine as potatoes. This opinion has 
been expressed to me by many farmers inthis 
county. Apples may be cultivated to an indefi- 
nite extent and at a small expense. We may easi- 
ly avail ourselves of this advantage. The opin- 
ion of many of these farmers is, that they are 
better given raw than cooked. This point will, I 
hope, be made matter of experiment. The fatten- 
ing of hogs, however, is subject to so many con- 
tingencies, that under present circumstances, ex- 
cepting where extraordinary supplies of food are 
easily obtained, upon a large scale it can be safely 
imdertaken only with extreme caution and care. 
Many, who have imdertaken it, have been unsuc- 
cessful. 



S HOG STYE.— End View. 




AN END VIEW. 

The roof covers the passage-way and eating 
and sleeping apartments on each side, and is 
made sufficiently high to enable the feeder to 
pass between the pens. The floors of the eating 



and sleeping apartments are made perfectly tight ; 
the floor of the promenade in the upper story is 
laid with narrow planks, placed about one inch 
apart, so that whatever is dropped by the pigs falls 
through on the compost beneath. The promenade 



70 



On Raising Swine. 



of the lower story has no floor. The only passage Dwilding, the floor of the passageVay in the 

for naRSincr thp nio*R ont. nnrl in. is hv a RliHp_i^nr»r ! ^\«to»- ct/M'^r ia nt-i n Imrol tutWVi *Ua T^ifnv.il o.-.>.P»^^ 



for passing the pigs out and in, is by a slide-door 
between each dormitory and the main passage-way. 
The pen being on ground which is a little higher 
at the end where the boilers are placed than at 
the orher, the floor of the boiler-room is on a 
level with the passage-way of the upper story, 
where the pigs kept in this part of the building 
are taken in and out. At the other end of the 



ower story is on a level with the natural surface 
of the ground, and by a door at that end of the 
passage-way, the hogs are taken in and out. 
You will perceive that a pen 100 feet long and 
34 wide, with three in a pen, will furnish ample 
accommodations for 120 hogs. A passage-way 
for the feeder is made from the cooking-room to 
the passage-way in the lower story. 

PLAN OF THE FLOOR OF THE UPPER STORY. 







== 




- — 




5S- 

1 








nil 






nn 


















1 












= 










nil 






1 








= 








1 


1 




1 






= 


nz; 


1 




i 

i 










i 
1 






nil 










nn 






= 








! 






! . 
i 






II n 


1 

i 








nil 






nil: 








= 








i 


i 










= 


— 
















Dormitory 
b feel square. ^ 






1 

1 


, 


nil 






fromenaae iv ii. squaie. 


1 




iin 

Kalinp apart- 
ment, 5 feet 
square. 





The foregoing is a rough plan, wliich may give 
an idea of the manner in which my hcgs are kept. 
It is intended for the plan of the upper story on one 



end. The lower slory corresponds witli the upper, 
except that the promenade is extended out six feet 
from the line of the upper outside promenade line. 



GEOLOGY 
AS CONNECTED WITH AGRICULTURE. 



BY WILLIS GAYLORD, 

ONONDAGA COUNTY, N. Y, 

hit 



No ONE who Is familiar with the history of ag- 
riculture, who remembers what its condition was 
fifty years since, and is acquainted with its pre- 
sent state, can hesitate in admitting the rapid ad- 
vances made in the practice of cultivation, or 
deny that very much of this success is owing to 
the appUcation of the sciences to the art of agri- 
culture. Processes fomierly considered difficult 
and mysterious are now familiar to all ; effects 
have in many important instances been traced to 
their causes ; and results have been obtained by 
carrying out in experiment the deductions of sci- 
ence, which have been of the greatest benefit to 
tiie farmer. Thus the application of botany to 
the aid of the cultivator by such men as De Can- 
dolle, Macaine, Loudon, Lindley, and Liebig, has 
showni the necessity and advantages of rotation ; 
the mode by which nature effects improvements 
in plants and fruits, and enables us to imitate, or 
in many cases to improve upon her ; and in va- 
rious other ways contributes to tlie comfort and 
the prosperity of the farmer. Chemistry, too, 
has rendered the most essential aid to the pro- 
gress of skilfully conducted, and successful agri- 
culture. By developing in a considerable degree 
the constituent of the most valuable plants, and 
teaching us the character of the soils we culti- 
vate, it has enabled us to supply tiie ingredients 
that are wanting, or to correct any existing in the 
earth which are injurious. In the hands of Four- 
croy, Davy, Chaptal, Faraday, Liebig and others, 
chemistry has been, and promises stiil more to be, 
one of the most efficient aids of the farmer. It 
has taught the essential elements of plants ; it 
has shown the most profitable and successful 
methods of preparing various new manures and 
composts ; and more than all, it has given us 
glimpses of the great pervading agent in all 
growth, nutrition, vegetable and animal organi- 
zation, and promises to admit us still farther into 
that mysterious temple, where in silence and 
darkness the germs of animal and vegetable life 
first find existence, and the means of its contin- 
uance. Geology, the most modern of the sci- 
ences, which has sprung into being, and assumed 
form and method within the memory of many 
now living, has not been backward in offering its 
contributions in aid of the tiller of the soil. For- 
merly the earth was looked upon as a mere mass 
of inert matter ; capable of touching nothing, 
and from which man had nothing to learn. That 
time is past ! The earth is proved to be a volume 
full of the most important readings ; a chronicle 
in which the events of illimitable ages are re- 
corded ; pages in which new proofs of wisdom 
and design are clearly manifest, and by which ev- 
ery observer is most eloquently invited to " look 
up through nature, up to nature's God." The 
crust of the earth, that part called its surface, 
and which is exposed to our notice, bears every 
where the most conclusive marks of change. — 



Examination of it proves that changes requirmg 
long periods of time for their completion ; changes 
involving the extermination as well as the creation 
of numerous races of animals and plants ; chan- 
ges which have* affected the nature of the earth 
in all succeeding times, and still exert the most 
powerful influence on the social condition of man, 
have followed each other, until the earth had be- 
come fit for man's residence and the six days' 
work of the Almighty was crowned by his crea- 
tion. To the lover of nature, the dust upon 
which he treads, has assumed a new value in 
consequence of the discoveries of geology. He 
sees that it has once literally lived ; that the flint 
of om' mountains, the red clays of our sea shores, 
the vast deposits in many of our swamps and 
bogs, as well as the myriad coral isles of the blue 
Pacific, are but the remains of the puny tribes 
who have done so much to change, and render 
habitable the face of our globe. He recognizes 
the great truth that Ufe is a series of combined 
existences from the simplest infusoria to man, in 
which the decay of the one, has formed the step 
for the sujjerior and more perfect organization of 
the next. Geology has shown that each step in 
the series is distinct ; that species of plants or 
animals never pass into each other ; that success- 
ive acts of creative power were exeiled as the 
earth became adapted for higher and more com- 
plicated organizations ; and that consequently 
there was a time when each species of plant and 
animal had a beginning, and the termination 
as well as the beginning of many, is marked with 
a distinctness not to be mistaken. The doctrines 
of eternal succession, or the formation of later 
species by successive developments of the ear- 
lier, to which some philosophers have fondly 
clung, are proved by geology to be inadmissible. 
It has been the custom with many to underrate 
the importance of geological studies, as though 
they led to no practical results, notwithstanding 
Sir J. F. Herschel has said " that next to astrono- 
my, there was no science the pursuit of which 
promised more utility, or led to more exalted 
views of God and nature." Geology in fact, 
does for time, what astronomy has done for 
space ; it carries us where all our methods of com- 
putation are lost, and we are lost in the infinite. — 
But it is not with the theoretical part of geology 
we have at present to do ; our business is with the 
earth as it is, and our object is to point out the 
manner in wliich the changes that have passed 
over the earth's surface have rendered it not only 
fit for the residence of man, but under the direc- 
tion of intelligence, of being vastly more pro- 
ductive than at present. 

To understand the relation which geology bears 
to agriculture, and the way in wliich it can be 
made subservient to its promotion, it is necessary 
to glance at some of the revelations which the 
science has made in regard to the structure and 



72 



Geology as connected with Agriculture. 



present condition of our globe. In tlie classifica- 
tion of the several strata of rocks that compose 
the crust of the earth, different writers on the 
subject have adopted different names for the suc- 
cessive masses ; but we ihall adopt the one which 
is most generally used, though less scientific than 
some of the other proposed nomenclatures, as un- 
derstood by all, and based on reasons derived from 
the strata themselves, and obvious to every ob- 
server. Rocks fi-om the lowest known, to those 
of the latest formation, are obviously divided into 
the stratified and the unstratified ; but for the ad- 
vantages of science, and the convenience of refer- 
ence, these have been subdivided into the Pri- 
mary, Transition, Secondary, Tertiary, Dilu- 
vium and Alluvium ; this enumeration beginning 
with the lowest or earliest rocks, and ending with 
the surface covering or soil. We much question, 
however, the necessity or propriety of separating 
the transition and secondary rocks, as there are 
many thmgs common to both ; and writers on 
geology are by no means agreed as to the point 
in the series where the separation should be 
made. 

The primary rocks, still beginning in the lowest 
part of the series, are granite, gneiss, mica slate, 
primary limestone, talcose slate, hornblende slate, 
quartz rocks, and clay slate. By some, all these 
rocks above the granite are termed metamorphic 
rocks, as they all, in some places, exhibit traces of 
stratification, while in others they appear destitute 
of this structure ; a difference supposed to be the 
result of partial fusion, great pressure, or both. — 
The lowest, granite, has always the same con- 
stitucnts, (quartz, felspar and mica,) is obviously 
crystaline in all its parts, and formed by the 
gradual cooling of a mass in a state of fusion. — 
In these rocks, the result of chemical and me- 
chanical agents alone are seen. Organic life ap. 
pears not to liave existed, at least no traces of or. 
ganization are now remaining. It is from these 
rocks that all the strata have been formed by de- 
composition and deposition, and consequently in 
tlieir essential mineral characters must partake 
more or less of the parent rocks. Tlic limestones 
of this group are usually crystaline, sometimes 
called saccharine, from their resemblance to coarse 
grained loaf sugar, and furnishing the most pui'e 
and beautiful marbles. That it has in many in- 
stances midergone fusion, is perfectly evident from 
its position and appearance in connection with 
other primary rocks, of which Prof. Emmons's 
Geological Report of St. Lawrence county in 
this State, exhibits some striking instances. A 
line drawn from Ogdensburgh soutli through tiie 
valley of the Black river, the Little Falls of the 
Mohawk, to the Delaware, where it touches the 
line of Pennsylvania, would divide tliis State in- 
to two great sections, the east of which would 
belong as a whole to the primary formation, while 
west of that line not a trace of that formation 
exists, except in the erratic blocks or boulders 
scattered over the surface. 

Above the primary group appears the transition, 
and here we enter upon a series in which the re- 
mains of organic life, low indeed in the scale, but 
still fife, becomes associated with the mineral or 
earthy constituents, of which tlie strata are com. 
posed. Those geological writers that separate tlie 
transition series from the secondary, usually draw 



the line between the transition limestones or the 
Silurian system of rocks, and the old red sand- 
stone : but Prof. Buckland says, " It is most con- 
venient to include in the transition series, all 
kinds of stratified rocks, from the earliest slates 
in which we find traces of animal or vegetable 
remains, to the termination of the great coal for- 
mation :" and the Palfeontologieal chart prefixed 
to Prof. Hitchcock's Elementary Geology, shows 
that in many respects the whole of the transition 
and secondary series might, with propriety, be 
classed together. The principal difference will 
be found in the fact, that the animal remains in 
earlier rocks of the transition, though nearly al- 
lied in genera, will be found of different species in the 
more recent portions of that and the secondary 
groups. To the vegetation, rank and luxuriant of 
this period of time, are we indebted for the immense 
beds of coal which are now contributing so much 
to the comfort and prosperity of man ; and in 
these beds, and their associated rocks, we"; trace 
the characters that marked their species, and 
their peculiarities. The plants, trees, &.c, were 
such as are now tropical, and their magnitude, 
foliage, and numbers, demonstrate that the condi- 
tions of their growth in respect to heat, moisture, 
soil, &c, were of the most favorable, or rather 
forcing kind. In this earliest state of animal ex- 
istence, we find the Verterbrata, Mollusca, Arti- 
culata and Radiata, though ah are of the simplest 
forms ; for instance of the first only fishes ; of the 
second, many genera or families, such as the Or. 
thoceratic, Producta, Nautilus, Terebratulee, and 
others, some of which are extinct, while others 
have continued through all the formations ; of the 
third, the Trilobites, a family now extinct ; and 
of the fourth, there are abundant traces, of which 
the Crinoidea or lily shaped animals, affords spe- 
cimens of great beauty. If we include in a sin- 
gle series both the transition and secondary, the 
rocks in the ascending order will be the Cambrian 
or graywacke system, or older fossiliferous rocks ; 
the Silurian system., or graywacke slate and tran- 
sition limestones ; old red sandstone ; carbonifer- 
ous limestones ; coal formation ; new red sand- 
stone ; lias ; oolitic system ; green sand, and 
chalk. According to this classification, that part 
of this State, west of the line described above, 
would embrace all the rocks from the upper lim- 
its of the primary, to the lower series of the great 
coal formation, this series not being fairly reached 
until the State of Pennsylvania is entered. 

Next succeeding the transition and secondary 
rocks, is the tertiary formation, in which the strata 
have been alternately deposited by bodies of salt 
and fresh water, as it proved by their organic re- 
mains. What are termed the marine strata, have 
their fossiliferous remains exclusively such as are 
found in the sea, and the fresh water strata show 
remains peculiar to fresh water. Indeed, in both 
cases, the fossil ''animals are such as are now 
found in the seas and lakes of the globe, in far the 
greatest number of instances, thus proving that 
the changes which have caused these formations, 
are comparatively recent, and bringing both the 
animal and vegetable remains nearer to ©ur own 
times and existing species, than in the strata that 
have preceded them. The tertiary series has ex- 
cited a very great influence on the surface, in fit- 
ting it for the residence and support of man. 



Geology as cormected with Agriculture. 



73 



Nearly all that part of the middle or southern 
States, lying between the first ranges of hills and 
the sea coast, belongs to the tertiary. It embraces 
the rich marls and green sands, which, in New- 
Jersey and other places, have proved such effi- 
cient fertihzers of the soil. This green sand is 



found in various countries, and as some doubts 
hove been entertained as to the principle most 
active in its aid to vegetation, we copy from 
Professor Hitchcock's Elementary Geology the 
analysis of specimens from different countries. 



Silica 

Protoxide of Iron 

Alumina 

Water 

Potassa 

Lime 

Magnesia 

Manoranese 



French green sand, 
by M. Berthier. 



50.0 
21.0 
7.0 
11.0 
10.9 



English sand, by 
Prof. Turner. 



Massachusetts 

sand, by Dr. L. S. 

Dana. 



48.5 

22.0 

17.0 

7.0 

traces. 



3.8 
traces, loss. 



56.700 

20.100 

13.520 

7.000 



1.624 
1.176 

0.080 



New Jersey sand, 

by Professor H. D* 

Rogers. 



49.27 
24.67 
7.71 
5.91 
9.99 
5.08 



Potassa has been claimed as the sole fertilizing 
ingredient in this tertiary deposit ; but, if such is 
tlie case, the sand of England and Massachusetts 
should be worthless. It is probable the oxide of 
iron, lime, and alumina assist the action, and are 
beneficial without the alkali, although that would 
seem to be the most powerful agent in the deposit. 
" Throughout all this period," sa3'S Dr. Buckland, 
there seems to hitVe been a continually increasing 
provision for the diffusion of animal life, and we 
have certain evidence of the character and num- 
bers of the creatures that were permitted to enjoy 
it, in the multitude of shells and bones preserved 
in the strata of the tertiary formation. 

The formation which succeeds the tertiary, is 
called diluvium, a word which implies that it has 
resulted from a deluge or deluges, but there is no 
good evidence that such is the fact. This depos- 
it has received various names, such as diluvium, 
erratic rock, group, boulder formation, and more 
lately, drift, which latter term expresses its char- 
acter, as it generally exists, better than any oth- j 
cr. Of this great mass, which covers most of ; 
the surface of the habitable globe. Prof. Hitchcock j 
remarks, " That it is composed-of sand and grav- j 
el, of different degrees of comminution, mixed j 
together in just the manner that violent currents of I 
water would do it. This gravel is not often de- | 
rived from the rocks beneath it, but from those at [ 
the distance of several miles, and in this country, i 
usually from ledges which lie in a northwesterly 
direction. The surface of this gravel is often 
scooped out into deep basin-shaped depressions, 
and raised into corresporvding elevations, the dif- 
ference of level being from 20 or 30, to 100 or 
200 feet." Where the decomposed rocks which 
have formed diluvium, belong to the clay, slates 
or shales, so much clay will be mixed with the 
mass of coarse gravel and sand, as to render it 
very compact and hard. Of this natm'e is the 
crag of the English geologists, and the hard pan 
of our farmers ; the character of which, it will 
be seen at once, must be determined by the na- 
ture of the strata from which the mass is derived, 
and the proportion the several constituents bear 
to each other. In examining deposits of alluvi- 
imi, the coarse pebbles and gravel will usually be 
found at the bottom, then clay, and at the sur- 
face, sand. If the clay is absent in drift to any 
considerable extent, the mass will of consequence 



be very porous and dry ; if clay is in too great 
abimdance, it is retentive of water, and, as a 
natural result, wet. 

There is still another group, or stratified depos- 
it, which is the result of causes now in action, 
and which materially modifies the surface of the 
earth , this is called alluvium. Modern geoloodsts 
place the following among alluvial deposits, or 
classify them as belonging to this group. Soil, 
sand, peat, marl, tufa or travertm, coral reefs, si- 
liceous sinter, siliceous marl, or the skeletons of 
infusoria, bitumen, sulphate of lime, hydrate of 
iron, hydrate of manganese, chloride of sodium, 
geic compounds, sandstones, conglomerates, &c. 
From this enumeration it will be seen that alluvi- 
um in some form, acts a most important part, 
and should be well understood by those who would 
determine the condition, geological character, and 
quality, of soils. Alluvium is most frequently un- 
derstood to mean only those depositions made by 
rivers, of rich friable earth ; such as the banks of 
the Lower Mississippi, Po, Nile and Ganges, or in 
a more limited degree, by most small rivers on which 
what are called interval lands are found. It will 
be seen, that used as a geological term, its mean- 
ing is much more comprehensive. 

As all soils are made from the disintegration 
and decomposition of the rocks into earth, and 
then united with decayed organic matter, either 
animal or vegetable, a knowledge of the primitive 
materials from which the several stratified series 
of rocks are formed, will much assist in deter- 
mining the character of the soils above them, or 
originating from thein. Chemists have detected 
some fifty-three or four simple substances in ths 
earth, or substances as yet incapable of further 
division, but there are of these only sixteen that 
are of any considerable account in the formation 
of the crust of the globe ; and nearly all of these 
enter into the combinations in which they exist, 
not in their simple state, but as binary compounds. 
The following will show the names of the sixteen 
simple substances that we have said constitute tlia 
greater part of the globe. 

1, Metalloids or the bases of the Earths and 
Alkalies. 

1. Silicium. 4. Sodium. 

2. Aluminium. 5. Magnesium. 

3. Potassiimi. 6. Calcium. 



74 



Geology as eonnected with Agriculture. 



1. 



1. Silica. 

2. Alumina. 

3. Lime. 

4. Magnesia. 

5. Potassa. 



2. Metals Proper. 
1. Iron. 2. Manganese. 

3, Non-metallic Substances. 
Oxygen. 5. Sulphur. 

2. Hydrogen. 6. Chlorine. 

3. Nitrogen. 7. Fluorine. 

4. Carbon. 8. Phosphorus. 

The followuig are the binary compounds that 
constitute nearly all the accessible parts of the 
globe :■ 

' •■■ 6. Soda. 

7. Oxide of Iron. 

8. Oxide of Manganese. 

9. Water. 
10. Carbonic acid.* 

These compounds are termed binary, because 
they are composed of two of the simple substances ; 
indeed it requires the utmost skill of the chemist 
to exhibit the base of these compomids in the se- 
parate state. This silica is composed of 52 parts 
of silicium, and 48 of oxygen ; alumina of .53 
parts aluminium, and 47 of oxygen ; and the 
other compounds in a similar manner. Thus it 
will be seen that oxygen constitutes nearly one- 
half of the ponderable matter of the globe. It has 
also been estimated that its crust contains 45 per 
cent, of silica ; 10 per cent, of alumina ; 15 per 
cent, of carbonate of lime ; 3 per cent, of oxide of 
iron ; some of the unstratified rocks, such as fels- 
par, contain from 10 to 14 per cent, of potassa, 
and the stratified rocks contain it in considerable 
quantities ; while some basalts contain (i per cent, 
of soda, and this compound enters extensively into 
the composition of the ocean. The other com- 
pomids are diffused more or less extensively, and 
though in small proportions, contribute essentially 
to the quantities of the earths, and their formation 
into soils. 

In the following table No. 1, is shown the pro- 
portion of the metahc base to the oxygen in some 
of the most important rocks ; and in table No. 2, 
the amount of silica and alumina in the predomi- 
nant rocks of the primitive class ; 100 parts of 
rock in each case being employed. t 
No. 1. 



Granite, 

Basalt, 

Gneiss, 

Clay slate,. 
Sandstone,.. 
Limestone,. 



Base. I Oxygen. 



52 1 

57 I 

52 

54 

49 to 53 

52, 



48 

43 

47 

46 

47 to 51 

48 



No. 2. 



Granite, 

Greenstone, 

Basalt, 

Compact felspar,.. 

Gneiss, 

Mica slate, 

Hornblende Rock 
Talcose slate,.. 



Silica. 



60.40 
54.86 
52.00 
55.50 
70.96 
67.50 
54.86 
78.15 



Alumina. 



12.34 
16.56 
14.12 
21.00 
15.20 
14.26 
15.56 
13.20 



* Those who wisk to investigate this subject further are 
referred to the Geological works of Lyell, Hitchcock and 
Bakewell. 

t For the groundwork of these tables see Phillips and De 
la Beches' works on Geology, and Hitchcock's excellent 
Elementary volume on the same subject. 



These tables will show in what manner, and 
from what sources the soil derives the respective 
proportions of its principal earthly ingredients; 
and where soils can, as thej' may in very many 
instances, be traced to the rocks fonning them, 
the peculiar characters and qualities belonging to 
it may be determined with much certainty. — 
Eight or nine simple minerals only, constitute the 
great mass of all rocks. Quartz, felspar, mica, 
hornblende, carbonate of lime, talc, augite, and 
serpentine. Other minerals sometimes exist, as 
gypsum, common salt, coal, bitmncn, pyrites, 
oxide of iron, &c, &c, which though fomid in 
small quantities, are not without their effect in 
modifying soils, so as to materially affect their 
productiveness. 

It will be found that far the greater part of the 
population of the globe inhabit those parts covered 
with the transition, secondary, and tertiary for- 
mations, or matter on the soil that has been pro- 
duced from the disintegration and decomposition 
of these rocks. In the language of Professor 
Buckland, " The process is obvious, whereby even 
sohd rocks are converted into soil fit for the main- 
tenance of vegetation, by simple exposure to at. 
mospheric agency ; the dismtegration produced 
by the vicissitudes of heat and cold, moisture and 
dryness, reduces the surface of ahnost any strata - 
to a comminuted state of soil, or mould, the ferti- 
lity of wliich is usually in proportion to the com- 
pomid nature of its ingredients." But whatever 
may be the character of the rock, examination 
shows that when sufficiently disintegrated, and 
combined with the proper quantity of decayed 
animal or vegetable matter, fertility to some extent 
will be induced. 

Sand, clay and lime, are the three principal in- 
gredients of all soils, and on the proper propor- 
tions, and intermixture of these, the quaUties of 
all cultivated lands may be said to be depending. 
Either of them alone, and in a state of purity, is 
comparatively barren ; but when the mixtirre is 
effected as by the addition of clay to sand, ferti- 
hty is ensured. The more thoroughly this com- 
minution and intermixture has taken place, the 
better will be the soil produced, as from the pro- 
portion in the primitive rocks of the globe, which 
the three principal earths bear to each other, it is 
clear a full mixture of those derived from them 
will give most usually the proportions necessary 
for productiveness. It is one of the most beauti- 
ful illustrations of design in the order of nature, 
that wliile the granitic or primitive rocks on their 
first disintegration are less favorable to cultivation 
and production than those from later formations, 
they are for the most part confined to mountains 
or moiuitain districts ; while the lower, level, more 
temperate, and easily cultivated regions are com- 
posed of the dismtegrated masses constituting 
diluvimii ajid alluvium. There is no conceivable 
way in which the thorough mixture of the earths, 
so requisite to fertility, could have been accom- 
plished so effectually as by the breaking up, and 
grinding down, which is the result of repeated dis- 
integrations and depositions. On these previous 
processes of nature, the whole tillage of the soil is 
suspended ; and without them there could have 
been no agriculture. 

The masses of fossiUferous rocks, embracing 
the whole series from the lower transition to the 



Geology as connected with Agriculture. 



ys 



upper tertiary, have had their thickness variously 
estimated by geologists. Tlie principal sources 
of diifcrencc lie in the lower transition, while all 
above present a remarkable miiformity. Prof. 
Philhps's estimate oftlic thicliness of these fossili- 
ferous rocks, is the lowest, being about 34,000 
feet or more than six miles ; while the greatest is 
that of Dr. Smith, which is 142,800 feet or not 
far from 27 miles. In these, we trace the progress 
of organized life, from the simplest and half vital- 
ized {X)lypi and coldblooded animals, and the 
marine plants or fucoids, up by regular or scarcely 
interrupted gradations, and the successive devel- 
opments of higher and more complicated organ- 
izations, till the earth had been fitted for the abode 
of man ; and the last and crowning act of creative 
energy placed him upon it, as master of the whole. 
From the deptlis of these series of rocks, entombed 
for countless ages, v.'e draw forth remains which 
the skill of a Cuvier has placed bone to bone, and 
exhibited forms so dissimilar to those now existing 
on tlie earth, that nothing save their veritable 
skeletons before us, would induce a belief in the 
possibility of such organization. " The peculiar 
feature in the population of the whole series of 
secondary strata," says Prof. Buckland, "was the 
prevalence of numerous, and gigantic forms of 
saurian reptiles. 3Iany of these were exclusively 
marine, otliers amphibious : others wcmc terrestrial, 
ranging in savannas and jimgles, clothed v/itli a 
tropical vegetation, or basking on the margin of 
estuaries, lakes and rivers. Even the air was 
tenanted by flying lizards, imder the dragon foiin 
ofPterodactyles. The earth was at that time, it is 
probable, too, much covered with water, and 
those portions of land which had emerged above 
the surface, were too fsequently agitated by earth- 
quakes, inundations, and atniosj)hcric irregulari- 
ties, to be extensively occupied by any higher or- 
der of quadrupeds than reptiles." Tliese perished 
plants had produced those beds of coal, which we 
axe now using ; and these uncouth reptiles have 
elaborated many of those substances, which in the 
soils formed from the decomposition of their en- 
closing strata, constitute no trifling element in their 
fertility. 

Of the thickness of the unstratified rocks, we 
of course have no possible means of deciding. — 
That it is very great, there can be no doubt ; and 
this is proved by the examination in many places 
of the masses of primary rock, and their inclina- 
tion to the horizon. Thus, Professor Pallas, 
notices in the peninsula of Tauris, an unbroken 
series of primary strata, which, after making al- 
lowance for their inclination, would give a per- 
pendicular thickness of more than 68 miles ; and 
according to Prof. Hitchcock, the railroad from 
Boston to Albany, in passing from Wcstfield to 
Pittsfield, is carried over strata of primary rocks, 
nearly perpendicular, for at least 20 miles. If, as 
is now generally supposed, the interior of the 
globe is in a state of fusion, or scmifusion, it is 
probable this crystalized crust extends from the 
surface to the point of fusion ; and although in 
penetrating the earth, the increase of temperature 
is such as to justify the opinion that an intense 
heat must exist in the interior of our planet, the 
different action of heat when under great pres- 
sure, and when free, docs not enable us to decide 
positively the present thickness of the earth's 



crust. Reasoning from different data, or difl^er- 
ent series of experiments, philosophers have vari- 
ously estimated the thickness of this crystalized 
mass, from 150 to 2.50 miles in thickness. 

The processes by which soils are formed, suita- 
ble for the purposes of agricultiu-e, would appear 
something like the following. All the earths must 
have been derived from the disintegration and dc. 
composition of the primary or crystaUzed rocks. 
They could have had no other origin. Deposited 
in the waters of the earliest seas, the abode of the 
first created animals and plants, the successive 
layers and strata of the lower transition, or fossili- 
ferous rocks were deposited. That there should 
have been a state of great quietude existuig in 
the elements at this period, is evident from the 
perfect state or condition of the organized remains 
of this series, proving that they lived and died 
without experiencing those great convulsions 
which mark a later period of deposit. The regu- 
larity of the strata is further evidence of this fact. 
When these strata were, by some convulsions of 
the earth, lifted from the seas in which they were 
deposited, a new series of disintegration com- 
menced, of which the transition, rather than the 
primary, were the subjects. Now the secondary 
and the carboniferous strata were deposited, and 
that too, it would seem in great degree under the 
same conditions of quiet watejs as in the former 
case. Succecduig revolutions broke up the new 
formed rocks, and exposed both them, and the 
older ones, to fresh disintegration and deposi- 
tion. In this way, the tertiary and upper rocks 
were produced, abounding in proofs of organic 
hfe ; but frequently in such conditions as to show 
that the changes to which the earth was subject, 
were sudden and violent. The action of currents, 
glacial action, and the influence of atmospheric 
causes now appear, in the masses of drift, diluvial 
matter, boulders, &c, v.liich cover the whole sur- 
face of the earth, with few exceptions ; and ex- 
hibit the most abundant evidence, that organiza- 
tion in plants and animals, had reached a point 
rendering the globe a fit residence for man, and 
on which wc now find him, the last created, and 
most largely endowed resident. 

That the earths vvliich constitute the basis of 
soils, and form the groundwork of agriculture, 
were derived from the original primary rocks, is 
so apparent that no one seriously thinks of con- 
troverting the fact. The repeated chanofes and 
disintegration, large masses of them have been 
subjected to since that time, have so mingled the 
original constituents, as to destroy, in a great 
degree, their original character, while at the 
same time they are much better fitted for the 
purposes of the agriculturist, than they could 
otherwise have been. There is one great error, 
hov/ever, into wliich geological writers have fre- 
quently fallen ; and that is, while the formation 
of soils is achnitted to be owing to the disinteirra- 
tion of rocks, they are supposed invariably to re- 
semble the strata lying immediately under them. 
In some few instances, this may possibly be the 
case, but they arc so rare, and produce so little in- 
fluence on the agricultural character of a country, 
that they are hardly worth taking into account. 
On the contrary, the course of the currents, or 
the action of those causes that have produced 
and deposited the drift or diluvial covering of the 



76 



Geology as connected with Agriculture. 



globe, must be taken into consideration, if cor- 
rect results would be arrived at ; since on these 
the fitness or unfitness of a soil for culture is 
mainly depending^. 

The direction of that action which has produced 
the drift on this continent, and fashioned its sur- 
face, whether we suppose it to have been diluvial 
currents, or the movements of glaciers, is so clear, 
that no room for doubt is remaining. Pebbles, 
boulders, or masses of rock, since the geological 
structure of the country has been mvestigated, 
can be readily traced to their original beds, no 
matter where Ibimd, and the course in which they 
have moved since their first breaking up, is also 
the course of the action to which their removal is 
owing. Throughout the whole American conti- 
nent, from Nova Scotia to the Rocky Mountains, 
this action has been from the north to the south, 
with occasional slight deflections owing to local 
causes. This is proved by the boulders, which 
not only are found invariably to the south of tlie 
places from which they v.^ere derived, but are 
larger and more numerous near their original 
location, than farther from it. Thus, the whole 
of the vast transition formation which reaches 
from the Little-fulls of the Mohawk in tliis State 
to the Rocky Mountains, embracing the valley of 
the great lakes of the St. Lawrence, and the upper 
valley of the Mississippi and its tributary branches 
is covered with boulders from the primitive rocks 
to the north of the territory named. Thus, Mr. 
Catlin found at the famed Red Pipe stone quarrj', 
beyond the Mississippi river, granite rocks of 25 
feet in diameter, that must have drifted several 
hundred miles from the north ; and boulders arc 
seen on the banks of the Ohio, derived from the 
primitive ranges north of the lakes, and which, 
therefore, must have traversed at least 500 miles. 
The same facts, according to Lyell, Greenough, 
and De la Beche, occm" on the continent of 
Em'ope, proving the existence of a similar action, 
whatever that might have been. It is to this 
action, that the polished and grooved rocks of 
such large sections of our country are owing, 
showing existing forces sufficient to round or 
grind down the hardest masses. This action has 
excavated the beds of the great lakes, as well as 
the parallel valleys and smaller lakes of Western 
New- York, and sjnead the diluvial matter, so 
formed, over districts farther south. This will 
be evident to aO who have examined the country 
with a view to its agricultural character as de- 
pending on its formation. In crossing the State 
ti-om north to south, a variety of rock formations 
are passed, or rather ascended, sandstones, lime- 
stones, shales, &c, in various alterations, yet not 
a particle of these are foimd north of the beds 
where they originated, but the drift is invariably 
to the south. This fact has had a vast mfluencc 
on the agricultural character and capability of 
the west, materially determining the nature of 
the soil, and its productions. 

The intimate intermixture which the changes 
before spoken of have produced on the quality of 
soils, is one great cause of the power of producmg 
vegetation which exists in most masses of earth 
to a considerable distance below the surface. At 
the period of the formatiom of drift, plants and 
animals had long existed on the earth, and the 
efSecte of their deposition and decomposition has 



pervaded the whole mass. Soils made from the 
sedimentary rocks, are with few exceptions more 
fruitful than those from the primary ones. There 
is not, however, in all cases the same fertility, or 
power of producing vegetation, in the earths. In 
some cases it exists only on the surface or very 
near it ; in others, earth thrown from a depth of 
ten or twenty feet will be as productive as surface 
earth. If the upper deposites are porous, it is 
uniformly found that the elements of fertility will 
be deep, thus sliowing that the ingredients that 
render ths soil fertile, such as humus or vegetable 
maniu"es, or salts, are carried downwards througli 
the diluvium by infiltration. This will account 
in part for the different effects which earths taken 
at the same depths below the surface, as in dig- 
ging wells, ditches, &c, in different places will 
produce. In some places the character of the 
deposite is such that the fertilizing matter pro- 
duced in a succession of ages, has made no im- 
pression, but either remains on the surface in the 
shape of muck, or has been carried off by the ac- 
tion of the elements ; dense pan is of this descrip- 
tion. If thrown upon the surface of cultivated 
lands it remains unfertile for a year or two, until 
by the action of the elements, by aeration and 
disintegration, the unfavorable qualities are miti- 
gated or changed. In other places the earth thrown 
out and spread on the surface, possesses so largely 
the essential elements of fertility, that it serves as 
a top dressing of manure, and adds largely to the 
crops grown. The western States are examples 
of tliis depth of fertile soil, and instances else, 
where may be adduced. AVhere such soils lie on 
a limestone basis, the common impression is that 
the depth, whatever it may be, is owing to the 
disintegration of the lime rock. This is errone- 
ous, as such soils in many cases do not contain 
more lime than others, and the fertility to such 
dejjths is owing to then mechanical composition, 
their dryness, and consequent vvarmth. Some 
very compact clays are found to serve well as a 
top dressing on soils, but then- efficiency will, in 
nearly every case, be found on examination to be 
depending on the lime they contain, thus making 
them a marl. Wliere this is not the case, if spread 
over porous sands the efibct is excellent. The 
fine farm formerly owned by Judge Buel, near 
Albany, is an example of this, and shows that 
where the mechanical mixture of the earth is not 
of the proper kind for fertility it may be corrected, 
and the mass rendered productive in the highest 
degree. Tlie sand plains between Albany and Sche- 
nectady are geologically constituted on the surface, 
of light drifting sands to the depth of thirty to fifty 
feet ; this rests on clay from seventy to one hun- 
dred and twenty feet in thickness ; and this on 
the common rock of the region. To correct the 
sandy character of the soil, wliich had hitherto 
been deemed almost hopeless. Judge Buel trans- 
ported from the clay hills of Albany a quantity 
of that material (which in addition to the clay is 
rich in Hme) as a dressing for liis sands, and thus 
secured the tenacity requisite for the retention of 
moisture, and the proper action of manures. It 
may be remarked here as a geological fact of 
much interest to the fanner, that where the sur- 
face is a sand, the underlying strata is a clay, 
such as when mixed with the upper strata or soil, 
will make an excellent one for tUlage and cropping. 



Geology as connected with Agriculture. 



77 



Tliat the soils now existing could not have 
been formed from the rocks immediately below 
them, is evident from the fact that a large portion 
of the transition rocks of this State have their 
upper surface now smooth and polished, exhibiting 
no marks of decomposition, but only of abrasion. 
This is not the case with the limestone and harder 
rocks only, such as those of Rochester and Lock- 
port, but large tracts of the Marcellus shales, one 
of the softest and most easily decomposed rocks in 
tlie series, presents a similar appearance. We 
have seen this highly smoothed and grooved or 
striated surface on the high lulls in the south 
part of Onondaga county, eight or nine hundred 
feet above the level of the Erie Canal, and pol- 
i&hed boulders of the same rock are frequently 
seen in or on the drift to the south of thek original 
j)osition. This movement of the diluvium or 
drift to the south, explains the cause why clay 
soil is sometimes found on sandstone rocks, sandy 
soils on the limestone strata, or a strong limestone 
soil on the shales. It also explains the reason 
why the character of soils in tlie same neighbor- 
hood or town should sometimes differ so widely, 
these things depending on the action of the cur- 
rents, their freedom or obstruction. Thus, for in- 
stance, we know a town lying above, or to the 
south of the great range of mountain or crinoidal 
limestone that traverses the State from east to 
west, or from the Helderberg to Buffalo. The 
western half of the northern front of that town 
shows a gradual descent to the limestone strata, 
interposing no obstacle to currents or the transpor- 
tation of drift ; while a deep valley of some two 
miles in width, and showing a south boundary of 
some six hundred feet elevation, cuts ofT the east- 
ern half of the town from the same strata. The 
result is as well marked in the character of the 
soil, and its adaption to particular crops, as in the 
timber and natural growth of the two sections. 
The west half, or that which presented no ob- 
stacle to the transportation of drift, was covered 
with oak and chesnut. On the shale rock, which 
forms the substratum of the whole town, Umestone 
boulders are so plentiful that they arc collected 
and burned for lime ; the soil is a fertile loam, 
shallow, but producing large crops of excellent 
wheat; in short, it exhibits all those characteris- 
tics which mark the soils lying immediately south 
of the limestone series of rocks in other parts of 
the district. The east half of the town, on the 
contrary, that part where the diluvial action was 
obstructed by the deep valley alluded to, though 
of the same elevation as the other, has a widely 
different constituted soil from the west. The 
timber is beech and maple, the subsoil a dense 
clay hardpan, no limestones or but very few arc 
found, the surface soil is a muck instead of loam, 
and the culture of wheat is much less profitable or 
certain than on the western half. It is excellent 
for grass or for spring grain, but the quantity of 
clay in soil produces the same effect that it does 
on lands still further removed from the effect of 
the limestone series, and renders wheat very liable 
to be frozen out diu-ing the winter. The drift which 
should have been spread over the cast part of 
that town, isnovv- lying piled in large masses cov- 
ering hundreds of acres, and from one to two 
hundred feet in bight, in the valley below, evi- 
dently deposjtvd by the cddicL;, or deflexions of the 



currents, wliich the mountain front of the town 
to the north of this place caused. Nor is this a 
solitary instance of the influence which opposing 
obstacles have had in the distribution of drift, 
and thereby determining in no mconsiderable dc 
gree the agricultural nature of soil. 

It is to the proper mixtm-e of a few of the 
earths already named, and the combination with 
those of humus, or decomposed animal and vege- 
table matter, that fertility is owmg. A variety 
of experuncnts have been made by different men, 
to form artificial soils, or by differently compomid- 
ing the earths, ascertain that mixture the best 
suited to vegetation. Tlie experiments of Tillet 
resulted as follows : the most fertile mixture he 
could produce was composed of three-eighths 
clay, three-eighths finely pulverized limestone, 
and two-eighths of sand. I'hese reduced to their 
elements gave of coarse sand 25 parts, silica 21 
parts, alumina 16.5 parts, carbonate of hme 37.5 
pai-ts. The quantity and lund of vegetable mat- 
ter incorporated is not stated. It is certain that 
the most careful examination of arable sods does 
not give any thing like the quantity of carbonate 
of lime used by Tillet ; and it is therefore right to 
infer that the proportion of lime was far greater 
than is necessary, when combhicd as we find it 
in the soil, to promote the highest fcrtiUty. A 
knowledge of the constituent parts of soils will 
show how they are geologically as well as practi- 
cally combined to be suitable for cultivation ; for 
if, owing to geological position, any single ingre- 
dient is in too great proportion, such soil will fail 
in some essential respects. We shall therefore 
present an analysis of soils from different parts of 
the world, to show that the necessary and general 
elements of fertihty are every where the same. 

An analysis by Chaptal, of some fertile alluvi- 
on on the Loire, gave in ] 00 parts : 

Siliceous gravel 32 

SUica 10 

Calcareous gravel 11 

Carbonate of lime 19 

Alumina 21 

Vegetable matter 7 

Davy, in his Agricultural Chemistry, page''162, 
gives an analysis of a fine wheat soil, Middlesex, 
England : 

Carbonate of lime 28 

Silica 32 

Alumina 29 

Animal or vegetable matter 11 

The following is the analysis of a soil on the 
farm of E. Phinney, Esq., Massachusetts, culti- 
vated for more than 100 years, made by Dr. Jack- 
son. By comparing that soil with others on the 
same farm in a native state, it contains more sol- 
uble humus, and has consequently been improved 
by culture, a state which should always be the re- 
suit of farming or tilling of a soil. 

Vegetable matter, 8.9 

Insoluble silicates, 81 .2 

Peroxide of iron, 4.3 

Alumina, 4.0 

Phosphate of lime, 1.0 

A specimen of the rich alluvion of the Nile 
was analyzed by B. Silliman, Jr. and gave the 
following result : 



78 



Geology as connected with Agriculture. 



Veffetable matter, 6.90 

Sillx, 47.39 

Alumina, 32 . 10 

Peroxide of iron , 11.20 

PJiospliatc and crcnatc of lime 2 . 02 

Dr. Jackson analyzed a specimen from the 
bank of tliQ MiBsiseii)pi, 100 miles above New- 
Orleans, and obtained these results : 

Water absorption, 3.9 

Vegetable matter, 3.6 

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 7.0 

Carb. phos. and crenate of lime, 2.8 

Insoluble silicates, 8] .4 

The same gentleman also analyzed a very rich 
soil from Batavia, in the East Indies. Tlie ve- 
getable matter in this, makes it resemble the 
muck soils of some part of the west. 

Water of absorption, 7.8 

Vegetable matter, 24 . 9 



Peroxide of iron, 7.9 

Alumina, 14.8 

Phosphate and crenate of lime, 2.0 

Magnesia, 0.3 

Insoluble silicates, 43 . 

A specimen of the best river alluvion from the 
Hudson, near Troy, analyzed by Prof. Eaton, 
gave the following : 
Silex, (including small stones and pebbles,) ...75 

Alumina, 7 

Carbonate of Hme, 3 

Animal and vegetable matter, 11 

Soluble salts, 1 

Water of absorption, 3 

The follov/ing is an analysis by Prof. Hitch- 
cock of 5 specimens of soils from the western 
states. Under the heads of soluble and insoluble 
geine, will be found the animal and vegetable 
matter of these soils. 



Rushville, Illmois,... 
Sangamon, do 
Lazelle, do 

Peoria, do .. 

Sciota Valle y, Ohio, ■ 



a; 

7.4 

4.9 

7.6 

3.1 

4.5 



5.6 
13.8 

4.8 
6.7 



-f2 

3.4 
1.2 
1.4 
3.5 
2.1 



0.6 
0.4 
0.4 
1.0 
0.9 



1.5 
1.3 
3.3 



84.6 
86.6 
73.5 
87.6 
83.5 



0.3 
6.3 
8.5 
5.8 
5.3 



The soil from Lazelle had never been cropped, 
wliile that from the Sciota had produced corn 14 
years successively, without manm-e. 

The following analysis was made by Dr. Lap- 
ham, civil engineer, of the soil from a part of liis 
father's farm, on a branch of Mad river, Ohio, 
wliich by constant croppmg, without regard to 
rotation, had been so reduced as to be unfit for 
wheat. 

Water of absorption, 6 

Organic matter, 3 

Siliceous matter, °" 

Alumina, ° 

Peroxide of iron, ^ 

An examination of these several analyses will 
show that siUca, lime and sand are present, as the 
principal earths in all soils; that the fertility is 
greatly depending on the amount of vegetable 
matter ; and that where either of the earths is in 
excess, or wanting comparativeness, barrenness ;s 
the result. Chaptal fomid that when the clay in 
a soil exceeded 50 per cent, it was imfit for culti- 
vation, and that all over 20 per cent, niight be 
considered rather injurious than otherwise. On 
the contrary, most fertile soils contain from 60 to 
80 per cent, of silica, unless in cases where it is 
replaced by calcareous gravel. Some soils which 
had been abandoned on account of the amount 
of sand they contained, have been rendered fer- 
tile by placing on them small quantities of clay ; 
proving that where other circumstances are favor- 
able, a small amoimt of claj' will give the re- 
quired tenacity, prevent the too rapid descent of 
manures, and secure the proper suppl}"^ of moist- 
ure. Soils that contain too much alumina are 
very heavy and retentive, and are apt to be wet i 



and cold. AVhere there is a large supply of hme 
gravel, as in the soil analyzed by Davy, a larger 
per cent, of clay is admissible, and frequently 
proves one of the best in the world for Avheat, as 
is proved by the analysis, and crops of some of 
our best wheat districts. The absence of either 
of these essential earths will prevent fertility, as 
tlic want of lime in that of Mr. Lapham pre- 
vented the growth of wheat ; a result to have 
been expected from the arialj'sis of other non- 
wheat jjroducing soils. 

If soils were uniformly produced by the disinte- 
gration of the subsoil strata, those on limestone 
would be the richest in that element of fertility. 
Such, however, is not the case ; and strange as it 
may seem, there are some soils lying on limestone 
rocks which do not contain the least appreciable 
quality of that article. This may easily be ac- 
counted for by the fact that in the transportation 
of diluvium we have described, that which now 
rests on the limestone came from strata that con- 
tained little or no lime. Sand is so much more 
generally diffused in all rocks than in the otjier 
earths, that it is scarcely possible to find a soil 
where if is not present, and some of the most fer. 
tile districts arc those where the sand has been ce- 
mented by lime, making, wlien broken up, cal- 
careous sand. 

The State of New-York fujnishcs examples of 
all kinds of soils ; those produced from every va- 
riety of formation, and of almost every shade of 
intermixture. The lower counties on the Hud- 
son river, and the territory between Lake Cham- 
plain and the Black river, now mostly a wilder- 
ness, are examples of primitive formations to a 
great extent. The soil of the river counties, a 



Geology as eonnecled with Agriculture. 



79 



though formed in a great measure of greinltc, 
gravel and sand, has been so incorporated with 
me drift from tlie transition series, that the mix- 
tuit makes one of the most fertile soils, when 
properly manured and cultivated. Morton, in 
his excellent work on soils, remarks that those 
kinds of granite rocks which contain large quan- 
tities of felspar, are from the potash they contain, 
liable to decomposition when exposed to atmos- 
pheric agencies ; and when mixed with the quartz 
of the granite, the clay of the felspar, and well 
manured with calcareous matter, sea shells, lime, 
&.C, form soils most productive of wheat and bar- 

Prof. Hitchcock, in his Economical Geology 
of Massachusetts, says, that " the compact fel- 
spar that forms the basis of porphyry, frequently 
contains an unusually large proportion of alumi- 
na, frequently from 15 to 30 per cent. And al. 
though this is the hardest of the rocks around 
Boston, in many places it decomposes rapidly, 
and the resulting soil admits of high cultivation, 
as at Medford and Lynn." The condition of our 
primitive districts proves in a great degree the 
correctness of these opinions. The agricultural 
settlements bordering on the great granitic forma- 
tion north of Montgomery and Saratoga coun- 
ties, and west ©f Champlain, have proved that 
their soils, evidently the result of the decomposi- 
tion of granite or felspathic rocks, require noth- 
ing but the liming and manuring spoken of by 
Morton, to render them most fertile ; and the liigh 
state of cultivation in some of the river counties 
is proof of what such soils ai'e capable in the 
hands of the skilful farmer. Soils of this class 
in all countries have been found very durable, a 
fact which Liebig explains from the abundance 
of potash contained in the felspar, and which is 
given out by gradual decomposition. SoUs from 
the gneiss rocks are usually of an inferior quality 
to the granitic ones, from the felspar being fre- 
quently in a less proportion, and consequently the 
clay and potash of that mineral being wanting. 
Where the gneiss contains abundance of felspar, 
the soil has no perceptible difference from the best 
granite ones, and when treated in the same man- 
ner will be equally productive. Some of the best 
root soils in the world are from this rock, for in- 
stance the celebrated carrot and parsnip sods of 
Guernsey and Alderney ; where the latter root is 
produced in greater perfection than any where 
else. 

The great transition formation of western New- 
York furnishes examples of all the soils which 
such rocks can produce, from the coarsest peb- 
bles to the most compact clay ; soils in which 
comminuted limestone forms a large proportion, 
and that which is destitute of this element ; soils 
varying from the lightest sands to the heaviest 
clays. On these the agricidtiu'ist finds soils 
adapted to every product, and capable of every 
modification and course of culture. There can 
be no question but that a natural difference exists 
in the soils of this formation, and the line is very 
distinctly marked in many respects by the water 
shed that separates the streams of the lakes from 
those of the Susquehannah and Ohio. It will be 
found that the soils on the northern or lake slope 
are much better adapted to the production of corn, 
wheat, clover, &c, than those on the southern 



one, or rather on that part watered by the streams 
that flow southwardly ; and there can be no doubt 
that this difference is caused by the geological 
structure of the two sections. On the northern 
slope, in the course of thirty miles, no less than 
three distinct deposits of lime rock are found, two 
of them of great thickness, besides several minor 
deposits. Indeed, the whole mass, sandstones 
and shales, contain so much lime as to effervesce 
freely with acids. I'he first of these is the depos- 
it which forms the falls of Niagara, in which the 
quarries of Lockport are found, whicli causes the 
falls of the Genesee at Rochester, and crosses in 
its course eastward the Oswego river at Fulton. 
The second deposit is the one which may be 
traced from Black Rock througli the counties of 
Genesee, Livingston, Ontairo, Seneca, Cayuga, 
Onondaga, Madison, &c. This mass is of great 
thickness, and has produced the greatest effects 
on the agricultural character of the soils in these 
comities. The Oriskany sandstone strata, which 
lies between this deposit and the gypseous one^ is 
made of coarse sand cemented by lime, and when 
mixed with the marly or gypseous clays from the 
shales lower m the series, or to the north, gives 
an excellent soil, wherever its influence is felt 
from Oneida to Ontario. The upper deposit of 
limestone is the one called the Tully limestone, 
and is of limited extent and thickness, compared 
with the others. This deposit extends from the 
vicmity of Cazcnovia westward across the coun- 
ties of Onondaga, Cayuga, and part of Tomp- 
kins and Seneca. The mass called by the State 
Geologists, IMai'cellus shales, some seven or eiglit 
hundred feet in thickness, lies between the Tully 
limestone and tiie Onondaga or crinoidal lime- 
stones. From the Tully Imiestone deposit there 
is not another till the carboniferous deposits of 
Pennsylvania are reached, leaving a district of 
some forty miles in width destitute of this rock. 
The rock strata of this transition district of New- 
York furnishes in the red shale that lies between 
the gypseous formation and the Rochester series 
of lime rock, and in which the lead of the Onon- 
daga and Oneida lakes are mostly excavated, a 
curious instance of the manner in which a depos- 
it will run out, allowing the strata above and be- 
low to come in contact, while at another they 
are widely separated. Thus this red shale depos- 
it, which, from Oneida to Onondaga or Cayuga, 
is not less than three or four hundred feet in thick- 
ness, disappears to the west, and at the Genesee 
river and the Niagara, allows the gypseous shales 
to rest immediately upon the Lockport or Roches- 
ter limestones. The result is, that the beds of 
reddish clay, which are so common in the coun- 
ties east of Ontario, and which have been pro- 
duced from the decomposition of the red shale 
strata, are not known at the west, where the stra- 
ta has disappeared. 

No one who is acquainted with the character 
of the soil, and their agricultural capabilities, in 
these two sections of western New- York, that is, 
the northern and southern, will hesitate to ascribe 
the difference to their different geological origin. 
The influence of the lime deposits on the lake 
slope is too obvious to be mistaken ; and the con- 
sequence of its absence on the part watered by 
the streams flowing south is equally certain. The 
vegetation is in some respects dissimilar, and the 



80 



Geologi/ as connected with Agriculture. 



agricultural products are to a considerable extent, 
distinct. In short, there are few districts in any 
conntry where the influence of geological strata 
on the soil and its agi'iculture is more marked, or 
can be studied to better advantage, than in wes. 
tern New- York. 

A knowledge of tlie geological character of 
soils, and the position of the strata from which 
they are derived is of great consequence to the 
farmer. By this he can in a great measure de- 
termine their capabilities, their essential elements, 
and the changes it is necessary thej' should un- 
dergo m order to the greatest fertility. The stra- 
ta and the sub-strata, the diluvial deposits, the 
course of the currents from which they were de- 
rived, the mechanical constitution and condition, 
with their different degrees of porosity or tenaci- 
ty, are all to be geologically considered. There 
are, it is well known, some soils called hungry, or 
which absorb all the manures and other substan- 
ces put upon them by the farmer with such ra- 
pidity and so little effect that their cultivation with 
profit niay be considered as almost hopeless. To 
the superficial observer sucli soils do not greatly 
differ in appearance from another class of soUs 
which constitute one of the most valuable and 
productive. To the geological character of the 
strata from wliich these soils are derived this dif- 
ference is to be traced. Siliceous gravel or sand 
from roclis loosely cemented will, when deposited, 
offer little resistance to filtration, and do not retain 
water sufficient for the ordinary purposes of veg- 
etation. When this gravel or sand is from strata 
of which alumina is the principal cement, the de- 
posit will, while it retains all the necessary friabil- 
ity for easy working, also be retentive of moisture 
sufficient for plants, and yet not be liable to injury 
from stagnant water. Where the soil is derived 
from clay diales, it will be too retentive and com- 
pact, be heavy and hard to work, and subject to 
injuries from stagnant water either on or below 
the surface. 

There is no operation in the preparation of land 
for tillage, to which modem agriculture is more 
indebted than to the system of thorough draining ; 
that which takes off not only the surface waters, 
but those which coming from below, follow the 
course of the strata, and render large tracts worth- 
less and unproductive. No manure can produce 
its proper effect on soil saturated with moisture. 
Lime does no good unless the soil is in a dry con- 
dition, and it produces the most effect when 
laid on in the driest part of the season ; and every 
farmer who uses gypsum, knows that precisely 
such is the case with the use of that invaluable 
mineral. The English farmer finds that bone dust 
is powerless on wet soils, and our own experience 
abundantly proves, that barn-yard manures are 
much more efficient on moist soils, after draining, 
than before. But to drabi land proj)erly and ef- 



ectually, to be certain of making no useless ex- 
penditure of money and labor, the geological con- 
dition of the farm or field must first be ascer- 
tained. It is not enough to ascertain which way 
the water will run when the drains are dug, but 
the dip and formation of the water producing 
strata must also be determined. The first may be 
done by the eye, or by the spirit level ; but the 
last will require examination of the inclination, 
and position of the impervious subsoil, and nature 
of the springs, by attention to the position of the 
strata, its outcrop, and by using the auger freely. 
From a want of attention to these things, many 
farmers fail in their efforts at draining, and ex- 
pend much money most unprofitably. An ordi- 
nary knowledge of the principles of geology, and 
their application, would prevent this, and ensure 
all the benefits which skilful thorough draining is 
sure to give. 

Geology, then, is not that useless, barren sci- 
ence, which many who have paid little attention 
to it, imagine it to be. There are few of the na- 
tural .'sciences, less speculative, or which have 
more direct, and important practical bearings. To 
the agriculturist, a knowledge of the facts it af- 
fords, is particularly valuable, leading him to 
practical results in many of his operations, of the 
first consequence. It teaches the origin, me- 
chanical composition, and qualities of soils, and 
shows in what respects they may be improved or 
amended, by the addition of those essential earths, 
in which they are naturally deficient. A know- 
ledge of the princi])lc of geology, and the causes 
which have operated to produce the present con- 
dition of the surface of the globe, would enable 
the piu'chasers of land to avoid many of the errors 
and mistakes into which they frequently fall ; 
and enable the farmer to procure such soils as are 
suitable for tlie business he intends to follow, 
whether the production of grain, or the raising of 
cattle and sheep ; since the fact is indisputable, 
that the districts in any country are very few, 
wliere the soil is equally adapted to grain and 
pasture. 

As a historical record of our globe, and its mu- 
tations, geology does that for us which nothing 
else can do, so clearlj^ and so definitely. It goes 
back far beyond all documents written by the 
finger of man, and on the imperishable pages of 
the mighty volume it imfolds to us, in characters 
traced by the hand of Almighty power itself, we 
read of times and seasons, and eras, to which the 
assigned limits of man's residence on this globe, 
is but as yesterday. In studying the characters 
so traced, man may err, but there can be neither 
impiety nor presumption in endeavoring to trans- 
late them, and bring them within the bounds of 
human understanding, or rendering the trutlis 
they teach subservient to utility, and the ends of 
industry, knowledge and human happiness. 



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